| Belladonna | |
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The Japanese DVD cover for Belladonna, as released by Nippon Columbia |
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| Kanji | 哀しみのベラドンナ |
| Rōmaji | Kanashimi no Beradonna |
| Directed by | Eiichi Yamamoto |
| Produced by | Tadami Watanabe |
| Screenplay by | Yoshiyuki Fukuda Eiichi Yamamoto |
| Based on | Satanism and Witchcraft by Jules Michelet |
| Narrated by | Chinatsu Nakayama[1] |
| Starring | Aiko Nagayama Tatsuya Nakadai |
| Music by | Masahiko Satō |
| Cinematography | Shigeru Yamazaki |
| Art Directed by | Kuni Fukai |
| Editing by | Masashi Furukawa |
| Studio | Mushi Production[2] |
| Distributed by | Nippon Herald Eiga (Japan) |
| Release date(s) | June 27, 1973 (23rd Berlin International Film Festival) June 30, 1973 (Japan) |
| Running time | 89 minutes[1] |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Belladonna (哀しみのベラドンナ Kanashimi no Beradonna, literally "Belladonna of Sadness"), also known as "The Tragedy of Belladonna",[3][4] is a 1973 feature film produced by the Japanese animation studio Mushi Production and distributor Nippon Herald Films. Directed and co-written by Eiichi Yamamoto and inspired by Jules Michelet's non-fiction book Satanism and Witchcraft, it is the third and final film in the Animerama trilogy and the only one to be neither written nor directed by Osamu Tezuka (he left Mushi Production during the film's early stages to concentrate on his comics[4] and his conceptual-stage contribution is uncredited). Belladonna is also of a more serious tone than the more comedic first two Animerama films. Its visuals consist mostly of still paintings panned across[4] and are strongly influenced by western art, such as Aubrey Beardsley,[5] Gustav Klimt[4] and classic tarot illustrations.[6] The film was a commercial failure and contributed to Mushi Pro becoming bankrupt by the end of the year.[4] The film was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival.[7][8]
It follows the story of Jeanne, a peasant woman who is raped which leads to her being accused of witchcraft, and is notable for its graphic and suggestively erotic, violent and psychedelic imagery. The film was released in Europe and Japan, but no official DVD with English subtitles exists.
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Jeanne and Jean are being happily married in their rural village. Their idyll is promptly shattered when Jeanne, on her wedding night, is subjected to a ritual deflowering by the village headsman and his lackeys and subsequently rejected by Jean. Now disillusioned with the present order of society, she makes a deal with the Devil in return for the power to lead a rebellion. The narrative of Michelet's Sorceress and her resistance against feudalism and the Catholic Church is fudged into that of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc), whom Belladonna's Jeanne is revealed to be, and her execution by burning.
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