Belladonna of Sadness

Trippiest hentai drama i've ever half watched.

A very artistic yet very off-putting film that fetishes rape. Definitely not a very pleasant film despite it's gorgeous art style.

Perhaps a far more interesting film in idea than execution, this animated psychedelic wig-out charts the tragic life of Jeanne, the Beladonna of Sadness, and millions of other women raised and repressed under religious patriarchy. It's a product of its time, in terms of the advent of women's sexual liberation, but I'm curious how this ended up being made in Japan, of all places. In places its animation is fantastic, elsewhere a little slapdash, and sometimes its too keen to shock for it's own good. The fuzzed up soundtrack is fantastic.

This movie is very much a product of the Psychedelic 1970s. It is very X-rated and stepped in both medieval French and Japanese mythologies on female empowerment, to make comment on both Sexual liberation and Feminism movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The art is very wonderful, and if you are fan of water colors you will enjoy the art very much. Warning this movie deals with rape, and revenge in a very graphic manner. If you have the mind to handle the concepts that are being portrayed and commented on in this movie, I would say check it out. It is more then worth it.

This movie was approximately 90 minutes of loosely connected rape scenes followed by an extremely brief slideshow of paintings of the French Revolution. Half a star is awarded for the fun schoolhouse rock animation in the middle.

Yes yes of course it is very artistic to fetishize rape. This whole story is about a woman getting raped on her wedding night in a very "artistic" way some might say, then making a deal with the devil who rapes her everytime he comes to force her to make a deal. Spare yourself some trauma and skip this movie. Also this is a prime example of why you shouldn't trust IMDB reviews as a woman.

This is not for the overly religious, easily 'offended', prudish types. Along with de debbil being his demonic self, there's lots (read: a bunch) of sex here. And it's hot n' heavy ugly bumpin' going on. So much sexual imagery, vaginal imagery, all aimed at the main character. The story line is frustrating and will surely stir up some emotion against the village people, Jeanne's lame husband, the local power structure, and of course Ol' Scratch. But the artwork here is phenomenal in it's gorgeous beauty, its intensity, and how emotionally affecting it is. Plus, a very nice musical score as well. 3.8 stars

"EN LA SIMPLICIDAD SE ESCONDE UNA GRAN HISTORIA" Belladonna of Sadness lo primero que te entregara sera un estilo visual que tu decidirás que si te convence o no, pero si te quedas la imaginativa de sus cuadros te llevaran a un viaje multi-emocional, de tristeza, alegría, dolor, traición,etc. Creo que como mínimo esta obra no te dejara indiferente ya que te llena de detalle el ojo con esos escenarios llenos de emoción.

Me perdi um pouco...mas não foi por causa do filme. Animações lindas e violentas e eróticas...a trilha sonora é maravilhosa!

Flipped this on and was pleasantly surprised to find the "Belladonna of Sadness" rather engaging. I would hardly call it animation or even anime - its more like a graphic novel as a film with a few animated elements. Yet, the drawing is done very well, trippy at times, hyper-sexual at times, and even with a Crumb like sequence. Meanwhile the story is rather straightforwardly fairy tale like - a newlywed couple have their lives destroyed by the cruel and careless machinations of heartless nobility. The woman, Jeanne, then descends further and further in to psycho-sexual enthrallment to a satanic entity. Definitely has that art house vibe, yet worth seeing if you get the chance.