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8.2
/10
1,852 Ratings

BELLADONNA OF SADNESS

哀しみのベラドンナ | Kanashimi no Beradona

Directed by Eiichi Yamamoto
Japan, 1973
Animation, Fantasy, Avant-Garde
  • 8787 minutes

Synopsis

An innocent young woman is violently raped by the local lord on her wedding night. To take revenge, she makes a pact with the Devil himself who appears as an erotic sprite and transforms her into a black-robed vision of madness and desire.

Synopsis

An innocent young woman is violently raped by the local lord on her wedding night. To take revenge, she makes a pact with the Devil himself who appears as an erotic sprite and transforms her into a black-robed vision of madness and desire.

Our take

A zenith in feature film animation, Eiichi Yamamoto’s masterpiece took six years to make and went unseen in the West until this resplendent restoration appeared. Doused in satanism, witchcraft, and born of the sexual revolution, this dark tale of a woman’s vengeance is not for the faint of heart.