Eiichi Yamamoto's BELLADONNA OF SADNESS: Blu-ray debut of the restored and rediscovered masterpiece of erotic animation

A "must" for anyone who appreciates animation, eroticism, and/or the culture and spirit of the 1970s, BELLADONNA OF SADNESS -- a Japanese anime originally released in 1973 (but never seen theatri-cally here in the USA until 2016) and based on the French erotic novel, La Sorcière, by Jules Michelet -- is so very different from the kind of animation we get these days that it seems almost quaint. Yet within that quaintness resides a wealth of eroticism and wonder.

As directed by Eiichi Yamamoto (shown at right), with art directions by Kuni Fukai and a succulent, of-its-time-period musical score by Masahiko Sato (the time period in question is the 1970s, rather than the medieval era in which the story is set), the movie tells the tale of young lovers Jean and Jeanne (shown below in one of their happy times) who, on their wedding night are summarily separated by the Lord of their village and his nasty wife. Jeanne is repeatedly raped by that Lord and his men, while Jean is tossed out of the castle to find his way home, alone.

Already we're in the realm of class, economics, sex, rape, religion (the town priest looks on at these goings-on with utter benignity), the psychology of self-loathing, and feminism -- seen, of course, via the eyes (and the paintbrush) of the male. Naturally, the female of the species isn't simply the victim here; she's the perpetrator, too. Ah, Eve: you naughty, naughty girl!

What makes the animation so lavish and lush -- and utterly different from what we're used to these days -- is its simplicity, symbolism, use of color, and in particular, its use to white space. Take the initial rape (above): the combo of sudden violence, jagged art and dense and pounding music makes the moment something of a staggerer.

What's oddest about the animation is that is rarely moves much. And yet the colors -- whether bright and saturated, pastel (above) or intricately shaded (below) -- are quite magical to view. As we learn of the ups and down of our gorgeous couple (mostly downs, unfortunately), we also meet Jeanne's "saviour," who turns out to the devil --first appearing to our heroine in the guise of what looks suspiciously like a little penis (below), and very soon he is doing all those pleasurable things for which the penis is best known.

Before you can say, "Sell me your soul, sweetie!" Jeanne does just that, in order to exact some revenge upon her "Lord." But revenge, which constitutes the remainder of the tale, turns out to be rarely sweet, often ugly, and almost always erotic.

And true to the times -- then, now, and forever, it would seem -- it's the Lord's wife (above, center left) who is punished most (along with her page, extreme left: ah, class distinctions!), while the Lord (center, right) and his Priest get off scot-free.

Along the way Jeanne gets fucked by Satan, which becomes one hell of a light show culminating in a riot of all the colors, styles and time frames you could ask for, followed by one of the most all-out sexual orgies that animation has ever given us, as though Picasso and Bosch had joined forces but confined themselves to the use of only happy, bright, approaching-day-glo colors.

The Black Plague? Of course!  And how well it is done, decimating an entire city in seething black-and-white animation. Finally Jean and Jeanne do get it on -- in the sweetest of the segments, all pastels -- and then we quickly return to the bad times once again.

But even those bad times are hugely erotic -- notice how the smoke from a burning-at-the-stake curls around and into every orifice with such sinuous glee -- all accompanied by Masahiko's signature 70s music that will take you pleasurably back in time. The film's final shot, by the way, is a hoot and a half -- and thoroughly anti-church.

On the Blu-ray extras are some very good interviews with director, art director and composer that give us some history of each man, as well as his approach to what he felt was needed for this particular movie. Also included is the original Japanese trailer for the film, plus the current trailers, both red-band and green.  (The film is also said to include eight minutes of explicit footage, rescued from the sole surviving release print. As explicit it is may be for its time, however, don't expect much, maybe any, male full-frontal.)

After its 50-plus theatrical engagements across the country, Belladonna of Sadness -- from Cinelicious and The CineFamily -- hits the street this coming Tuesday, July 12, on both Blu-ray and VOD -- for purchase or rental. Just make sure the kids are in bed before you watch, or you will have an awful lot of questions to field....

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animation, Anime, BELLADONNA OF SADNESS, Eiichi Yamamoto, erotic tales, French erotica, Japanese film, Rediscovered Classic, restored historical cinema, Satan in cinema,

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Shades of Donald Trump! Penny Lane's NUTS is another great American story about fakery

What absolute, unencumbered, hoot-and-a-half fun is NUTS!, the new documentary directed by Penny Lane (of Our Nixon fame) and very cleverly written by Thom Stylinski. Combining with flair, humor and -- eventually -- not a little sadness, the film uses charming, stylish animation along with grand archival footage and a smart narration that probes America's past and still current (hence the headline reference to Donald Trump) inclination to make wealthy heroes out of lying trash.

The antagonist of Nuts! is one, John Romulus Brinkley, little known today but in his time -- the early 1900s -- one of the most famous men in these whole United States. But famous for what? For curing impotence by transplanting goat testicles into (or maybe onto: his methods, as you will see, are a tad unclear) the human male. Ms Lane, shown at right, tells the tale of this man (of whom TrustMovies and I wager most of his readers had never before heard) with such cleverness and gusto that she yanks us into the crazy story full on.

Brinkley, shown above (in animated form) and below in an old (and I suspect colorized) photo, was a practicing doctor in a small Kansas town who made his discovery in 1917, went on to become one of the country's major celebrities and wealthiest citizens, transplanted thousands of those goat testicles, ran for governor of Kansas (could he have been any worse than Kansas' current cretin, Sam Brownback?), introduced to Americans everything from the infomercial to junk mail, and created the world's most powerful radio station (broadcasting out of Mexico yet -- to circumvent laws that America's medical and broadcasting establishments had created to put him out of business). This guy was something else!

Something else indeed. Ms Lane's great notion here is to base much of her documentary on Brinkley's story, as told by the biography of the man written at the time of his rise. It's a whopper, in so many ways, but also a terrific tale. So we are put in the place of those adulatory fans who no doubt bought that book and drunk in every word. Sort of like Mr. Trump's followers have done with "the Donald's" own books, TV shows and ridiculous rhetoric from the podium.

During this delightful and rather short doc -- it lasts but 79 minutes -- we also meet Brinkey's bête noire, an American Medical Association-sanctioned fellow named Morris Fishbein (above, right), who dogs the good doctor's trail over years. My current gut feeling about the AMA and its sometimes abusive powers put me in mind to dislike Mr. Fishbein, but Ms Lane wisely allows a scenario to eventually emerge that is quite a bit different from that of the Brinkley "biography."

What we learn from all this is not just vastly entertaining but also salutary. It's always good to be reminded how easily charlatans can become powerful and how quickly a large portion of the general populace can be made to follow them. From the doctor's supposed first "goat gland" patient (above) to the woman he marries (well, one of them) and the son he fathers and helps raise (below), we move through a life that seems devoted to success and achievement but is actually all about something quite other. The manner in which Lane shows us (in animation) what happened to that son, juxtaposed against a recorded message from his father, is beautifully and artfully handled.

Nuts! brings to life and art so much of what passess, then and now, as the sort of American Dream that eventually turns into the American nightmare -- from which, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Fishbein, the USA managed to awake. But who will help us today, given the way in which corporate power and the media have embraced our latest example of egotism, narcissism and fraud? Maybe Ms Lane, even as I type, is preparing a look at this present-day subject. After all, she 's already covered I-am-not-a-crook Richard Nixon and I-cure-impotence-using-goat-glands Dr. Brinkley. Why not Mr. I-make-the-best-steaks-education-casinos-and-walls?

To get a rich and full look at the damage Mr. Trump can bring to a country, its citizens and environment via one of his "projects," try to view the sad and wonderful little documentary You've Been Trumped, but meanwhile, do see this exhilarating new doc, Nuts!, from Ms Lane and released via Cartuna. The movie opens tomorrow in its U.S. theatrical premiere at Film Forum in New York City for a two-week run.  Elsewhere? Definitely. The following week, you can see it in -- yes! -- Kansas City, Missouri. Then look for it to screen all across the country in the weeks and months to come. Click here and scroll down to view all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters. (Even Kansas itself -- one city, at least -- is going to get a look at this smart new film.) 

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American documentaries, American eccentrics, animation, fakes, history, investigative reporting, NUTS!, Penny Lane,

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Short Film Oscar Nominees, 2015: The five animated short films open theatrically tomorrow

It's always a treat to see the short films -- animated, live-action narrative and live-action documentary -- that have garnered Oscar nominations, and this year is no different. Featuring the best in short films from around the world, these three programs offer a quality level that is almost always top-notch. For the past decade, these shorts have been receiving a theatrical release prior to the Oscars ceremony, and this year they open tomorrow, January 30, in theaters across the country (click here to see the complete list of cities and theaters).

Below are the five nominees for the short animated film award, with their statistics and content information followed by TrustMovies' brief opinion in italics. I'll finish watching the complete three series soon, and my take on the other two -- live action narrative and documentary shorts -- will quickly follow.

A SINGLE LIFE,   The Netherlands / 2 mins.  
Production: Job, Joris & Marieke 
When playing a mysterious vinyl single, Pia is suddenly able to travel through her life.

Brevity is not just the soul of wit; here it's the soul of animation, too. In just a couple of minutes, this Dutch wonder packs in an entire life and a ton of humor -- even if it is a bit dark. A Single Life is a sensational treat: fast, funny and amazing. That it is so brief, as well, just makes it all the more wonderful.

FEAST,  USA / 6 mins.  
Director: Patrick Osborne;  Producer: Kristina Reed 
A new short from first-time director Patrick Osborne (Head of Animation, “PAPERMAN”) and Walt Disney Animation Studios, Feast is the story of one man’s love life as seen through the eyes of his best friend and dog, Winston, and revealed bite by bite through the meals they share.

Disney's latest tackles the eating habits of a new puppy in a manner that is by now standard for this acclaimed studio. In other words it's a sentimental delight -- full of the usual anthropomorphization of animals, some first-rate animation, a ton of charm and, yes, just a little predictability, too.

ME AND MY MOULTON,  Canada & Norway / 14 mins.  
Director: Torill Kove;  Producers: Lise Fearnley, Marcy Page;  
Production: Mikrofilm AS, in co-production with 
the National Film Board of Canada
One summer in mid-’60s Norway, a seven-year-old girl asks her parents if she and her sisters can have a bicycle. Me and My Moulton provides a glimpse of its young protagonist’s thoughts as she struggles with her sense that her family is a little out of sync with what she perceives as “normal”.

Normality, and the need for this among children, is front and center in this Norwegian/Canadian co-production. Narrated by a "middle child," the short is full of envy and "otherness" and is probably the deepest of all the films, if not the lengthiest. It's bright and smart and funny, as it takes us to a place that most of us have been -- but probably not in such an intelligent and clever fashion.  

THE BIGGER PICTURE,  UK / 7 mins. 
Director: Daisy Jacobs;  Producer: Christopher Hees
'You want to put her in a home; you tell her. Tell her now!' hisses one brother to the other. But Mother won't go, and their own lives unravel as she clings on. Innovative life-size animated characters tell the stark and darkly humorous tale of caring for an elderly parent.

The darkest of the animated shorts, The Bigger Picture also offers the most innovative blend of animation, as well as the angriest of protagonists. These brothers have (and want to continue) their own lives despite their mother's progress toward dementia and death. It's all told with black humor, anger, and not a little sadness. Excellent.

THE DAM KEEPER,  USA / 18 mins.  
Directors: Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi;  
Production: Tonko House
Telling the tale of a young pig encumbered with an important job, and the meeting of a new classmate who changes everything, The Dam Keeper is a first-time collaboration between some of the most talented artists in animation and made its world premiere as an official selection at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival and is slated to make its US premiere at The New York International Children's Film Festival this spring. Made up of over 8,000 paintings, the film blends traditional hand-drawn animation with lush brush strokes. Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen of television's Forbrydelsen (The Killing) and BBC's Sherlock, narrates.

The most painterly of all the shorts film, this little gem stars a pig as its somewhat compromised hero, with a menagerie of other animals in the supporting roles. The theme here is -- among other things -- bullying, and how the filmmakers combine this with their tale of an unexpected friendship leads to something quite different. As lovely as the film is, an ineffable sadness seems to hang over it. Expect to talk to your children for awhile, post viewing.  

Because the program of these five nominated films is so short (around 48 minutes), I believe that the program will include a few other of the shortlisted shorts, bring the total running time to around 75 minutes. In any case, I've seen the other shorts, and while they, too, are good, I think the Academy, in this case, chose wisely regarding these five nominees.

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2015 Oscar nominees, A SINGLE LIFE, animation, FEAST, ME AND MY MOULTON, Oscar Nominees, short films, SHORTS HD, THE BIGGER PICTURE, THE DAM KEEPER,

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