Onibaba (1964)
(The Hole)
Country: JAP
Technical: bw/Tohoscope 104m
Director: Kaneto Shindo
Cast: Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Sato
Synopsis:
In medieval Japan two peasant women survive the marauding armies of two warring emperors by hiding out in the reed marshes and picking off stragglers for their armour. When the friend of their respective son and husband returns alone, the stage is set for a possessive struggle for the widow.
Review:
The opening and closing image of the hole into which the bodies of victims are flung is a potently haunting one, so unnatural it seems, a dry pit in this damp terrain. It also bears comparison with that of Ring many years later. The real demons of this piece, however, are the lust between the two lovers, whose bodies are frankly on display for so early a picture, and the fear and jealousy of the mother-in-law. And what is striking is the beauty with which reeds, flesh and faces are visualised in an extremely invigorating mise-en-scène set to Shinto-like drum beats.
(The Hole)
Country: JAP
Technical: bw/Tohoscope 104m
Director: Kaneto Shindo
Cast: Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Sato
Synopsis:
In medieval Japan two peasant women survive the marauding armies of two warring emperors by hiding out in the reed marshes and picking off stragglers for their armour. When the friend of their respective son and husband returns alone, the stage is set for a possessive struggle for the widow.
Review:
The opening and closing image of the hole into which the bodies of victims are flung is a potently haunting one, so unnatural it seems, a dry pit in this damp terrain. It also bears comparison with that of Ring many years later. The real demons of this piece, however, are the lust between the two lovers, whose bodies are frankly on display for so early a picture, and the fear and jealousy of the mother-in-law. And what is striking is the beauty with which reeds, flesh and faces are visualised in an extremely invigorating mise-en-scène set to Shinto-like drum beats.
(The Hole)
Country: JAP
Technical: bw/Tohoscope 104m
Director: Kaneto Shindo
Cast: Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Sato
Synopsis:
In medieval Japan two peasant women survive the marauding armies of two warring emperors by hiding out in the reed marshes and picking off stragglers for their armour. When the friend of their respective son and husband returns alone, the stage is set for a possessive struggle for the widow.
Review:
The opening and closing image of the hole into which the bodies of victims are flung is a potently haunting one, so unnatural it seems, a dry pit in this damp terrain. It also bears comparison with that of Ring many years later. The real demons of this piece, however, are the lust between the two lovers, whose bodies are frankly on display for so early a picture, and the fear and jealousy of the mother-in-law. And what is striking is the beauty with which reeds, flesh and faces are visualised in an extremely invigorating mise-en-scène set to Shinto-like drum beats.