Mind-blowing, adult 1973 Japanese animated feature comes to Cinematheque

Considered by cinephiles to be one of the great lost masterpieces of Japanese animation, Belladonna of Sadness was never officially released in North America. But a beautifully restored 4k digital restoration is currently making the rounds of the arthouse cinema circuit, with screenings at the Cinematheque (1131 Howe St.) in Vancouver from June 3-8.

Belladonna of Sadness was produced by Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of Japanese anime and manga, but directed by his long-time collaborator Eiichi Yamamoto. The film unfolds as a series of spectacular still watercolour paintings inspired in part by Gustav Klimt. But the 1973 mindblower also reflects the freewheeling spirit of other seventies animated features like Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards and Rene Laloux’s Fantastic Planet. It’s also an adult-oriented flick that is filled with violence and explicit sexuality.

Belladonna of Sadness begins when an innocent young woman, Jeanne, is raped by the local lord on her wedding night. She then makes a pact with the Devil in order to take revenge. What follows is a dizzying blend of different animation techniques and nonstop visual ideas, in a story that has been adapted from Jules Michelet’s 1862 Satanism and Witchcraft (originally La Sorcière), a history of witchcraft.

On its website, Cineliciouspics describes the film as “a mad, swirling, psychedelic light-show of medieval tarot-card imagery with horned demons, haunted forests and La Belle Dame Sans Merci, equal parts J.R.R. Tolkien and gorgeous, explicit Gustav Klimt-influenced eroticism.”

Osamu Tezuka’s original 1973 poster for the film.

Besides the psychedelic imagery, Belladonna boasts a crazed psych-rock soundtrack by avant-garde jazz composer Masahiko Satoh. The film has been restored by Cinelicious using the original 35mm camera negative and sound elements, including over eight minutes of footage cut from the negative. This is a film not to be missed by fans of Japanese animation, underground comics, ’70s psychedelia and avant-garde movies and music.

For tickets and showtimes visit thecinematheque.ca.