Onibaba

Never would I have thought that a Japanese film from the sixties could so delicately create commentary on modern culture and the lingering dismay of war. Kaneto Shindo's Onibaba (1964) is a psychological horror infused with demon lore that is reminiscent of other expressionist films (Nosferatu, Freaks, etc.)

The film takes place in 14th century Japan, in the middle of civil war. An old woman and her daughter-in-law fend for themselves by killing soldiers and selling their goods. The opening of the film shows a deep hole in the ground with the text "A Hole. Deep and dark, its darkness has lasted since ancient times" overlaid. The women are shown dumping the bodies of their victims here.

One of the great parts about this film is that this act of murder is normalized. Every bit of the women's daily routines are visualized. The murder is just a part of their daily routine-- their way to survive. When neighboring farmer Hatchi returns from war, the hole is forgotten about (but not for long). Indeed, the hole becomes a symbol of danger for the main characters. The old woman draws the demon masked samurai to the hole, where she steals the mask and is later punished. The hole essentially symbolizes the  unmoral acts that man takes in the midst of uncivilized life. This film was made in a time where the Japanese were still feeling the effects of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Highly expressionistic, the hole physically depicts the looming feelings of grief and anger that were still present in Japanese society.

However, tension isn't created by the presence of the hole. With the absence of the young woman's husband, she begins to give into Hatchi's lust. The old hag resents the affair in what first seems like a moral sense of protection for her daughter-in-law; but we later find that the old woman herself lusts after Hatchi. The old woman speaks of sexual transgression to her daughter-in-law, which makes her a hypocrite given her own lust (and the fact that her murderous sins are never mentioned). The sexual tension invokes anxiety in the audience; we don't know who is going to act first, but someone's going to try and end this love triangle.

The hag adopts the mask of the samurai with the intentions of scaring her daughter-in-law. The mask is the physicality of her envy and grief, and the charred face of the dead samurai represents the punishment for the deliberate transgressions against other human beings. It's also eerily evocative of the WWII bombing victims. When the young woman destroys the mask and reveals the marred face of the old hag, she leads her back to the hole, where the old woman finds her punishment.

Expressionistic influences can be viewed in the mise en scene of the film. The tall leave stalks scatter the light around, tossing shadows over the characters' face and everywhere else. The huts are dark; the characters often hide in the shadows when moments of lust or terror are brought to the surface.

Finally, there is some commentary on the gender roles of modern Japanese culture. The two women must beg when selling their goods in order to get their bags of millet. But when Hatchi comes around, he gets an extra bag of millet and sake for no good reason. While sex is made more normal and human (as it should be... especially compared to American culture) the empowered role of man still exists.

Overall, I'd say Onibaba is well worth the watch. It may be a little slow, but the interaction of the characters really makes up for it.