Trailer for Belladonna of Sadness.
Hidden away from the western world for more than 40 years, the Godfather of Anime Osamu Tezuka’s Mushi Productions (Astroboy) final film is the kind of motion picture that could only be produced by a once-great studio that knew its days were numbered. Belladonna of Sadness is a lyrical acid-trip nightmare based on Jules Michelet’s 1862 proto-feminist history of witchcraft in the Middle Ages, La Sorcerie. The film tells the tale of Jeanne, an innocent peasant girl who is subject to the barbaric act of jus primae noctis on her wedding night. Unable to move past the traumatic event, Jeanne begins to exert her free will in a repressed society before making a fateful pact with the devil. An allegorical twist on the story of Jeanne d’Arc, Belladonna of Sadness is groundbreaking in its slight watercolor animation style, bold sexuality, and fierce sociological commentary. Featuring a meticulous 4K restoration from the original negative, astounding imagery, and a psychedelic pop soundtrack, this lost masterpiece of ‘70s animation is sure to blow your mind.