Belladonna of Sadness

(1973)

★ 7.3 IMDb · 373 votes

Genres: Animation, Drama, Fantasy

Year: 1973

Runtime: 86 мин

Country: Japan

Director: 山本暎一

Cast: 長山藍子, 伊藤孝雄, Тацуя Накадай, 高橋昌也, しめぎしがこ, 米倉斉加年, Natsuka Yashiro

Plot

An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband's lives. After she's eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge.

Blessed--and at the same time cursed--with the precious but fatal gift of beauty, young peasant Jeanne, falls in love with beautiful villager Jean in Middle Ages France. As the village's foul feudal lord exercises the "Droit du Seigneur" or the "Right of the First Night" on the couple's wedding night, a desperate plunge to a world of disturbing hallucinations eventually leads Jeanne into a damned Faustian bargain with the Prince of Darkness. Thirsting for power and sweet retribution, Jeanne gradually transforms into an omnipotent, destructive vessel of seduction as her newly-acquired powers go hand-in-hand with the blackest of witchcraft. What is the limit of Jeanne's hatred?