Belladonna of Sadness: The Weirdest Fucking Thing You've Never Seen

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > Belladonna of Sadness: The Weirdest Fucking Thing You've Never Seen

Xealot: Nov 25, 2002; Showdown in the Galaxy Era.

ruddiger posted:

There's a theater here in LA that's been screening this the past month. I keep meaning to go, but work or something or another keeps getting in the way.

I caught it at Cinefamily. It was exactly as surreal and experimental as the OP says. It's basically beyond criticism, on that point...it's such an unusual approach to narrative and is so visually unique, I don't know what you'd compare it to or what framework you'd use to evaluate it.

In general, it amazes me what the creative atmosphere was in the 70's. Belladonna can't have been that expensive, but it's still a feature-length animated film that got made. And it makes Coonskin or Wizards or what-have-you look like Dreamworks.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2016 21:02

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 20:10

Xealot: Nov 25, 2002; Showdown in the Galaxy Era.

LORD OF BOOTY posted:

While I just said I don't really know what to make of this movie, I'm gonna take a stab, pretty much just based on my gut reactions when I watched it. Spoiler-tagged in its entirety because pretty much the only part you can really spoil (the plot) is what I'm focusing on.

The thing is, at the end of the day, Jeanne is the heroine. We're meant to be rooting for her, not jeering at her. Hell, the entire reason the Baron has her burned at the stake is because she's helping too many people and making him look like a jackass. While Satan, frankly, treats her like poo poo... I mean, it's Satan. That kind of comes with the territory, really. Jeanne submitting to him is treated less as an outright good thing and more of a desperation-fueled grasp at any sort of agency, and ironically, giving her sexual agency up to Satan gives her immense personal, political and social agency elsewhere. I do, ultimately, think it's going for a feminist message in this regard; it's essentially saying, even bluntly so in the final shot, that women being allowed agency in their lives is the key to a happy society. While the rape is more than a little over-the-top, I chalk that up to it being a Japanese grindhouse movie from the 70s; like with Satan being kind of an rear end in a top hat, comes with the territory.

I felt similarly, in terms of its argument or themes.

This will sound totally non-sequitur, but this movie reminded me of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me in that sense. Two stories of brutalized women, and the tension between sexual objectification and sexual empowerment in their respective societies. There's even an element of demonic figures taunting them and manipulating them into submitting to evil power. And there's an aspect of self-sacrifice. They both semi-willingly accept their own deaths; Laura opts to be murdered by BOB rather than become his vessel and Jeanne becomes a sort of martyr for all women.

I make the comparison only because Fire Walk with Me did very well in Japan, particularly among women viewers. It's a depressing thought, that these stories where young women are expected to perform docile femininity amidst horrifying sexual abuse are stories that particularly resonate there. I mean, I imagine they resonate with all women, everywhere...but clearly there's something particularly true about this in Japan.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2016 19:42

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