Onibaba (1964)

Onibaba
Directed by Kaneto Shindo
Written by Kaneto Shindo
1964/Japan
Kindai Eiga Kyokai/Toho Eiga Co Ltd.
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Woman: I’m not a demon! I’m a human being!

Beauty and horror meet in this savage film.

In 14th Century Japan, the mother and wife of a missing conscriptee eke out a meager living by killing vulnerable samurai, selling their belongings, and then dumping the bodies into a deep pit.  The murders are assisted by the head-high grasses that surround their hut.

Into this milieu arrives Hachi, a neighbor who accompanied the missing man into battle. He assures the women that their loved one is dead.  Mom can’t forgive Hachi but he easily seduces the daughter into secret nightly lovemaking sessions.  When Mom finds out she does everything in her power to prevent the meetings.

She is unsuccessful until alone one night she comes across a samurai wearing a ghastly demon mask.  He informs her that the mask is to conceal his face, the most handsome in all Japan.  The meeting cuts the samurai’s life expectancy short and gives Mom another idea for splitting up the lovers.

This movie is gruesome in the extreme.  The killings, including one of a dog, are brutal.  Yet at the same time the supernatural elements have a stark grandeur and Shindo’s vision of the natural world is lyrical.  Highly recommended.