Onibaba
Deep within the wind-swept marshes of war-torn medieval Japan, an impoverished mother and her daughter-in-law eke out a lonely, desperate existence. Forced to murder lost samurai and sell their belongings for grain, they dump the corpses down a deep, dark hole and live off of their meager spoils. When a bedraggled neighbor returns from the skirmishes, lust, jealousy, and rage threaten to destroy the trio’s tenuous existence, before an ominous, ill-gotten demon mask seals the trio’s horrifying fate. Driven by primal emotions, dark eroticism, a frenzied score by Hikaru Hayashi, and stunning images both lyrical and macabre, Kaneto Shindo’s chilling folktale Onibaba is a singular cinematic experience.
Special Features
- New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound and enhanced for widescreen televisions
- New video interview with writer/director Kaneto Shindo
- Rare super-8 black & white and color footage provided by actor Kei Sato, shot on location during the filming of Onibaba
- Original trailer
- Stills gallery featuring production sketches and promotional art
- Rare English translation of the original short Buddhist fable that inspired the film
- Filmmaker’s statement from writer/director Kaneto Shindo
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
New cover by Lucien S. Y. Yang
Special Features
- New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound and enhanced for widescreen televisions
- New video interview with writer/director Kaneto Shindo
- Rare super-8 black & white and color footage provided by actor Kei Sato, shot on location during the filming of Onibaba
- Original trailer
- Stills gallery featuring production sketches and promotional art
- Rare English translation of the original short Buddhist fable that inspired the film
- Filmmaker’s statement from writer/director Kaneto Shindo
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
New cover by Lucien S. Y. Yang
Cast
- Nobuko Otowa
- Woman
- Jitsuko Yoshimura
- Young woman
- Kei Sato
- Hachi
- Jukichi Uno
- The samurai
- Taiji Tonoyama
- Ushi
Credits
- Director
- Kaneto Shindo
- Film editor
- Toshio Enoki
- Sound
- Tetsuya Ohashi
- Music
- Hikaru Hayashi
- Director of photography
- Kiyomi Kuroda
- Original screenplay
- Kaneto Shindo
- Art direction
- Kaneto Shindo
