Eiichi Yamamoto (1940–2021)

Belladonna of Sadness is a weird little movie that was trying to be Japan's Yellow Submarine, but instead ended up becoming a surreal and abstract cult movie that used it's lack of budget to make something truly unique. Whether you see it as a feminist movie, or as a Japanese pink film that's trying to be artsy is up to you. Personally I saw it as the tale of one woman's suffering within a society that continues to fail her, the people in her life who repeatedly fail her, and her trying to reclaim herself in any way she can; with or without the help of the devil (who may be the literal devil, or who may be a metaphor - really it's up to interpretation). The whole film is something you can watch multiple times over and come up with your own theory as to what's happening. But the art really makes the movie worth watching, every scene is a screenshot that could inspire a million art prompts, and it's a lesson in how something you don't think will succeed DUE to a limited, or non-existent budget, can become it's own little cult success that really gets people thinking.… (mehr)