I am velvety-smoothReview is BELOWI am veltely smooth, too
_______
Onibaba (1964)
 
       
Review Rating:   Very Good  
...back to Index
N to O
   
Label/Studio:
Criterion
 
Catalog #:
ONI 030, Criterion 226
 
...or start from scratch
A
Region:
1 (NTSC)
Released:

March 16, 2004

 

 

 
Genre: Drama  
Synopsis:
Lonliness, lust, and truly bad karma follow two women haunted by a Buddhist demon in a desolate long-grass marsh in feudal Japan .  

 

 

Directed by:

Kaneto Shindo
Screenplay by: Kaneto Shindo
Music by: Hikaru Hayashi
Produced by: N/A
   
Cast:

Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Sato, Jukichi Uno, and Taiji Tonoyama

Film Length: 103 mins
Process/Ratio: 2.35 :1
Black & White
Anamorphic DVD: Yes
Languages: Japanese Mono
Subtitles: English
 
Special Features :  

Interviews: New video interview with Kaneto Shindo (21:07, in Japanese with English subtitles) / Rare Super-8mm black & white and colour footage shot on location during the filming of "Onibaba" (37:55), (provided by actor Kei Sato), with notes / Production & Art Photos: Stills gallery with 25 images of production sketches and promotional art / Misc: New essay by Chuck Stephens (in 12 page colour booklet) / New high-definition digital transfer with restored image and sound / Filmmaker's statement from Kaneto Shindo / Rare English translation of the original Buddhist fable that inspired the film / Theatrical trailer

 
 
Comments :

In Feudal Japan, two nameless women (a mother and daughter in law) scrape out a meager existence by selling the swords and clothing of Samurai who die (or are murdered) in their Susuki fields. When Hachi (a friend of the young woman's dead husband) returns from battle, he begins an openly sexual relationship with the young woman, causing abandonment issues in the old woman, and maybe some lust of her own

Put bluntly, the characters are all hot, hungry and horny, which suits the landscape on both visual and karmic terms- what else is there to do in purgatory except suffer and not get what you want? When a masked Samurai arrives, his death swirls the lust and hunger of the other three into a vortex that engulfs them all.

Extras include a trailer, production stills and promo art, and a long series of behind-the-scenes 8mm films taken by actor Kei Sato (who plays Hachi) that document the difficult shooting conditions. There's also an interview with Shindo, where he explains how he took his inspiration from the Buddhist fables he remembered from childhood. Other content includes liner notes from Film Comment editor Chuck Stephens that lay out both Shindo's career and the state of Japanese film at the time of Onibaba's release. For true completists, there's a translation of the original Buddhist fable that inspired Shindo.

The film veers from existentialist allegory to all-out ghost story, all to a vaguely be-bop score (think of Cronenberg's Naked Lunch soundtrack with Japanese overtones). It's beautifully shot in crisp black and white, and is genuinely intelligent and creepy, but is finally a disappointment simply because it seems to stop, rather than end. With all that pent up karma, sex and death, you actually want to take a peek at the hell that everyone seems so concerned about. If nothing else, it would never be boring.

 

© 2004 Michael John Derbecker

Bzzz-bzz-bazzz-brzzoom!
_IMDB Entry________Script Online _________Fan/Official Film site________Cast/Crew Link
_IMDB Detailed Entry_______Scripts available online ________Fan/Official Film Site__________Additional Related Sites
____Amazon.com __________Amazon.ca _________Bay Street Video_______Comparisons_
__Amazon.com info____Amazon.com info____Basy Street Video info______Compare Different Region releases_
_Soundtrack CD__________CD Review__________LP Review__________Composer Filmog.
_________Soundtrack Review_______Yes, VINYL_________Soundtrack Review
Brrr-boooshi-bzz-bazzah!
 
 
Vrrfpt-Voot-Voot-Voot!
 

Site designed for 1024 x 768 resolution, using 16M colours, and optimized for MS Explorer 6.0. KQEK Logo and All Original KQEK Art, Interviews, Profiles, and Reviews Copyright © 2001-Present by Mark R. Hasan. All Rights Reserved. Additional Review Content by Contributors 2001-Present used by Permission of Authors. Additional Art Copyrighted by Respective Owners. Reproduction of any Original KQEK Content Requires Written Permission from Copyright Holder and/or Author. Links to non-KQEK sites have been included for your convenience; KQEK is not responsible for their content nor their possible use of any pop-ups, cookies, or information gathering.

 
__