Customer Reviews

Onibaba

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although I had never seen the movie, I picked up the Criterion DVD for 'Onibaba' based on the plot alone. A widowed mother and daughter-in-law living in medieval Japan prey on wounded samurai wandering through the marshland. They strip the warriors of their weapons and armor and drop the bodies in a deep pit. They then sell the goods for food. Meanwhile, a former neighbor comes back from war only to upset relations between the women and himself.

'Onibaba' is based on a Bhuddist morality tale, but was also filmed as an allegory of post-war A-Bomb victims. Regardless, there is a lot at work here, but I wasn't nearly prepared for how incredibly erotic this movie was. Tall reeds that brush the bodies of those who run through them. And nothing is overtly symbolic than the rabidly [excited] neighbor screaming into the pit, "I want a Woman!"

But overall, 'Onibaba' is a high mark in Japanese filmmaking with striking, lush photography and a score filled with whips, cracks and human scats that mirror Morricone's Spaghetti Western scores. It is a slower paced film, but never boring if you let it envolop you like the tall reeds that swallow the characters of the movie.

Criterion is the master at restoring older prints like this and once again, do not disappoint. Aside from a few scratches in the beginning and a minor editing glitch in the middle, this does magnificent justice to the black-and-white photography and looks like a nearly new print. As with nearly every Criterion DVD you get a written essay on the insert. Extras include behind the scenes footage of the shoot, a still gallery, and a 20 minute interview with the director. Well worth the price.

I've loved this film ever since I saw it on tv when I was a kid so it's great to own this spectacular Criterion edition. The transfer is stunning - it looks just amazing.
This is a truly hypnotic film with its gloriously haunting cinematography. If you're a fan of Japanese cinema this is quite simply a must have.

War and famine has worn out Medieval Japan which has brought a mother and her daughter-in-law to the edge of desperation as they have been forced to lead a life of lawlessness. The two women have become merciless murderers as they hunt for weak and fallen warriors that are lost in the tall grass of the marshland in which they live. The women dumps the dead bodies in a deep and dark hole after they steal the weapons and belongings of the warriors. The stolen goods are sold to a crooked salesman for a meager sum of grain and rice. When a dubious neighbor returns, the neighbor begin to show interest in a late friend's wife, which later develops to an passionate affair. Onibaba is based on a Buddhist legend that was told in order to teach moral values. Shindô directs with a skillful eye as he tells the story of the two woman and the affair that develops into an exceptional horror story. In the end, Onibaba leaves the audience with an excellent cinematic experience.

I remember having seen Kaneto Shindô's ONIBABA in a little arty movies theater when I was about 15 years old. I've never forgotten its atmosphere even if this event happened some 30 years ago. I was really haunted by this sex story that took place in a swampy prairie of the medieval Japan.

Onibaba's characters are lost in the middle of a field covered with uncut grass and wheat. We have to dive into this scenery that is the fourth main character of the film if we want to discover this tragic and fantastic tale of love and jealousy. An impressing number of scenes are already part of Movie History and will stay for a long time in your memory : the love scenes between the young woman and Hachi, all the scenes involving the mask of the stray samurai and also the first murder committed by the women if I may select chosen moments of this masterpiece.

As always, the copy presented by Criterion is nearly perfect. Bonus features include a recent interview with the director Kaneto Shindô who's well over 90 now and a home movie shot by Kei Sato during the shooting. Frankly, I can't see now what can prevent you from enjoying this unforgettable film.

One of the greatest of all films of the supernatural, Onibaba, 1964, elicits shivers based on its perfect fusion of atmosphere, character, and setting. In feudal Japan, samurais coming home from warrior duty pass through fields of tall waving grass--a powerful leit-motif here--and are enticed by an older woman and her widowed daughter in law to follow them for a much-needed meal. But the two women have no intention of providing food for the men; they've constructed a booby trap that kills.

Stripping the now-dead warriors of their armor, the two sell it for food; this is their nasty means of survival in a desperate land. The younger woman, however, needs more than food to survive. Her hunger for the touch of a man is greater than that for food and she finds one who she is sure will satisfy her. But her mother-in-law is enraged by this possibility. Finding a mask on one of the dead samurais, the old woman dons it, mimicking a demon, to frighten the younger one.

The mother-in-law's scheme does not go as planned.

The director, Kaneto Shindo, has here created a sparse, riveting tale that transfixes the viewer because of its down-to-the-bone simplicity. Greed, fear, jealousy, and rage are all expressed with a minimum of action, but when they are on display, they're intense and that much more powerful. The subtle black and white cinematography is a perfect complement to the film's simplicity of tone. No tale of the supernatural can ever work without at least one of man's baser emotions present, and it works much more effectively when the expression of those emotions is lean amd nean, as it is here.

The much-touted current Japanese horror film, Ring, has been given enough attention by the media to, at long last generate its ultimate homage, an American remake. But Ring, while smacking all too easily of Cronenberg's influence, does not penetrate with its horror, save for one extremely disturbing scene; it's far too superficial.

In contrast, Onibaba works extremely well because the characters of the two women are the focus, which leads ultimately to the horrific events that occur. For a powerful experience in real terror, see this film. It is a masterpiece of the supernatural.

Ever since I saw this movie in the late 60's, Kaneto Shindo's economy of means to make such a great film was what most impressed me. A swamp and its surrounding reeds, and a dilapidated hut, conform the stage on which an old woman and her daughter-in-law survive as scavengers of the spoils of war that ravages feudal Japan, while their loved one is away fighting. A returning samurai enters into the picture, and the young daughter-in-law starts to have second thoughts about her fidelity to a husband who may probably be dead. The mother in law becomes suspicious of the scheming pair and decides to pose as a demon to thwart the couple's nocturnal encounters. This is basically the whole concept behind the movie, but there are no words to describe how the beautiful black and white cinematography, the art direction and the score --made up of an incisive counterpoint of drums-- blend so effectively to paint so crudely the most basic human instincts. The movie is at the same time a manifest against war, a rich palette about the extremes that people reach to survive, and an all-encompassing canvas of lust, greed, fear and human misery. The night wind trough the reeds, the passionate embrace of the adulterous lovers, and the ... madness of the old woman merge together through the masterly hands of Kaneto Shindo's to become a masterpiece full of suspenseful, erotic and horrific scenes. Highly recommended for those who enjoy those rare films that touch the most sensible parts of the soul. This movie was etched in my mind since that fist time, it is a movie I'll cherish for ever.I long for its transfer to DVD.

i'm not a media/film critic. Rather, i love japanese history and culture. (i've had the pleasure of living there a few years.) This movie, more than any other (including the well-known classics) has etched a permanent place in my mind. This movie will be cryptic indeed to the casual viewer. i suggest first-timers to rent before they buy. The time period addressed here is either prior to or radically distant from **ANY** japanese movie you have seen. THIS IS ITS VALUE. The pure superstition and reality of (possible) rural japan existence is all too clear. Ive never seen a more focused, palpable view from such a perspective.

For those who havent seen the movie yet, the setting is in a rather ancient, agricultural japan. the very few characters live within a juxtaposed dynamic of sexual necessity, societal hieracrchy (respect of elders: "baba" is a derogatory term for "obachan" or "grandmother"), and a real dread of Oni (demons).

All i can or should say is that this drama displays a rather (true) ancient japanese notion as to what penalties await those who trangress the "way it oughta be".

I know this sounds trite and inadequate, but I am sure those who have seen Onibaba will appreciate the ambiguous candor.

(...)

i'm not a media/film critic. Rather, i love japanese history and culture. (i've had the pleasure of living there a few years.) This movie, more than any other (including the well-known classics) has etched a permanent place in my mind. This movie will be cryptic indeed to the casual viewer. i suggest first-timers to rent before they buy. The time period addressed here is either prior to or radically distant from **ANY** japanese movie you have seen. THIS IS ITS VALUE. The pure superstition and reality of (possible) rural japan existence is all too clear. Ive never seen a more focused, palpable view from such a perspective.

For those who havent seen the movie yet, the setting is in a rather ancient, agricultural japan. the very few characters live within a juxtaposed dynamic of sexual necessity, societal hieracrchy (respect of elders: "baba" is a derogatory term for "obachan" or "grandmother"), and a real dread of Oni (demons).

All i can or should say is that this drama displays a rather (true) ancient japanese notion as to what penalties await those who trangress the "way it oughta be".

I know this sounds trite and inadequate, but I am sure those who have seen Onibaba will appreciate the ambiguous candor.

ALL I WANT IS MY DVD!!!

When I first saw the opening shot of the THE HOLE i felt that this would be some old B-Movie but i was amazed to discover what a beautiful peice of art it was. The story is of a mother living in a marshy expanse in the country in a feudal japan under the constant warring shoguns, bitter of the world around for the taking the life of her only son, and even more so of the bearer of news she restrains her daughter-in-law, who she uses as a replacement for her lost son, from pursuing romantic interests with a doctrine free runaway samurai. The mother performs this by guising as a demon and frightening her, but fate takes it's toll as the mother is unable to remove the mask, when the daugther does undernearth the meddling mother's face has been scarred and deformed. This frightens the daughter and causes her to flee.

There is alot of deep meaning to this story that teaches us that by limiting others through envy in the end we shall never benefit from it. Whta I enjoyed about the movie was the ambience. Shots of the long grasses swaying individually in the wind gave a feel as if the story was timeless and uninterrupted. The occurence was isolated and uncomplicated. It was in another world.

There is a lot to learn from this movie, i recommend it to any who seek a moral reasoning or enjoy fantastic psychological horrors.

I generally expect, when I pop a Japanese horror movie into my VCR, to be treated to an hour and a half of staring at an iguana with severe halitosis and an overzealous pituitary gland, using taxicabs for Hackey Sacks in downtown Tokyo. This movie is the exception to that rule.

"Onibaba" is a psychological fable, among other things. Set in medieval Japan, it features a codependent mother-daughter team, who survive by luring errant samurai warriors back to their lair, and then robbing and killing them. Over the course of the film, the daughter begins to feel an attraction for one of the warriors, and starts wanting to begin a new life, away from her mother. The mother, however, is evidently even more possessive than Norman Bates', and poses as a demon (by wearing a demonic mask) in an attempt to scare the suitor samurai away. Things get really scary when she realizes she cannot remove the mask...

This really is a spooky film. You will be reminded of "King Lear" in some ways, in the sense of the mothers quandary over giving up her power over her daughter. It's one of the few horror movies that seriously scares you, and you will find yourself reflecting on it for a long time afterwards. Two thumbs up.