Belladonna of Sadness

1973

1h 33m

Fantasy

Drama

Anime

TRAILER

for Belladonna of Sadness: US Release Trailer 1

List

Belladonna of Sadness: US Release Trailer 1

1:30

View more videos

90%

Tomatometer

42 Reviews

75%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

A peasant woman is banished from her village and makes a deal with the devil to gain magical powers.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Rent Belladonna of Sadness on Fandango at Home, or buy it on Fandango at Home.

Critics Consensus

Belladonna of Sadness has more than enough brilliant visual artistry to keep audiences enraptured even as the film's narrative reach slightly exceeds its grasp.

Read Critics Reviews

Wael Khairy

RogerEbert.com

What starts off as erotic hallucinatory psychedelia ends with a powerful message about female solidarity...beneath all the horror, the torture, and the violence, you’ll find a cry for revolt against various forms of inhumanity.

Feb 20, 2024

Full Review

Violet Lucca

Film Comment Magazine

Carefully constructed and a little sloppy, alluring and disturbing, this gem deserves a trigger warning, but also a chance.

Mar 1, 2018

Full Review

John DeFore

Hollywood Reporter

The artwork is achingly delicate, but there's nothing subtle about Belladonna of Sadness.

Mar 1, 2018

Full Review

Guillem Martinez Oya

Cinematismo

A museum's picture in movement. A stimulant revisit to the legend Joan of Arc. About womanhood empowerment [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/5

May 16, 2021

Full Review

Panos Kotzathanasis

easternKicks.com

Belladonna of Sadness is a landmark in the history of animation, both Japanese and international, and both due to its style and its radical content,

Jul 26, 2020

Full Review

Emilie Black

Cinema Crazed

It's a story worth at least one watch even if these aspects are not for you as the trippy watercolor animation should keep anyone's attention.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 19, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

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

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/13/22

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

l.d. b

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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Eiichi Yamamoto

Director

Tatsuya Nakadai

Devil

Aiko Nagayama

Jeanne

Masaya Takahashi

The Lord

Masakane Yonekura

The Priest

Katsuyuki Itô

Jean

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

92%

96%

Weathering With You

TRAILER

for Weathering With You

67%

75%

The House of the Lost on the Cape

68%

54%

Napping Princess

100%

91%

Summer Ghost

93%

90%

Millennium Actress

TRAILER

for Millennium Actress

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Belladonna of Sadness: US Release Trailer 1

1:30

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

A peasant woman is banished from her village and makes a deal with the devil to gain magical powers.

Director: Eiichi Yamamoto
Screenwriter: Yoshiyuki Fukuda, Eiichi Yamamoto
Production Co: Nippon Herald Films
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Anime
Original Language: Japanese
Rerelease Date (Theaters): May 6, 2016
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 12, 2016
Runtime: 1h 33m

Most Popular at Home Now