Customer Reviews

Onibaba (The Criterion Collection)

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The Noh mask in and of itself is a frightening thing. Featureless and unmoving, it is designed to change expressions when the wearer turns their head a certain way, and captures shifting shadows and light. Filmed in color, it would not have nearly the same impact as the devil's face that leers at us in "Onibaba." Director Kaneto Shindo has utilized the full power of this ancient Japanese artifact, using its supernatural powers to show us the true face of a very human evil.

The story is of the flotsam and jetsam of war, the left-over non-combatants who must still live by whatever means they can while commerce and industry is devastated and all able-bodied men are soldiers. In this harsh environment an old woman and her daughter-in-law become carrion crows, murdering lone samurai who have escaped wounded from a battle, then selling their arms and armor to a dealer who then sells it back to the armies, to strap around more corpses-to-be and eventually be recycled into more profits for the women.

Into this self-sustaining cycle comes Hachi, a friend of the old woman's son and young woman's husband, who claims that the son/husband is dead and he intends to leave behind the fighting and settle near the two women. The young woman is still young, and lusts for the life and vitality she senses in Hachi. The old woman, fearing abandonment and starvation, plays on the superstitious fears of the young woman, haunting her with a stolen Noh mask of a devil's face.

The transformation from the death-cycle of the old and young woman, to the living passion of Hachi is a powerful transition in "Onibaba." The raw, naked sexuality between Hachi and the young woman (who is never given a name) is unexpected in a black and white film, and thus all the more powerful. The impotent, cool rage of the old woman, who would seek to stifle that fire and merely sustain existence as it was until she dies is terrifying in its selfishness. She would pull all such things into the deep, dark hole where she flings the corpses of the samurai she murders. Hmmm...a deep, dark hole that is the end of men's lives...there must be a metaphor there somewhere.

"Onibaba" is a triumph of taking the masks of society away from human beings, and seeing them bare and naked in their primal state, surviving as they can under dire circumstances. Some choose life, some choose death.

The deconstrunction and demystification of the samurai myth had been a project Akira Kurosawa had taken upon himself and that had seemingly reached a conclusion in YOJIMBO (1962), but Shindo's ONIBABA (1964) takes it a step further by presenting them as bedraggled and exhausted, hungry and at the mercy of two seemingly innocuous women. Shindo's world is hot and sultry, the characters weak and vulnerable. This is a very good depiction of the affects of war on the fringes of society and the lengths certain parties must go to in order to survive. As well as exploring this theme Shindo also adds several intriguing layers, sexuality and jealousy make a potent combination, as does the inserion of old Japanese folk tales. The result is a film that shows the eroticism of human beings in their most natural and stripped down state. Be hypnotised by the swaying grass fields and the sumptious black and white cinematography in this Japanese gem. Criterion's disc is very good.

I remember having seen Kaneto Shindō'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 Shindō 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.

OK, it probably helped that I saw this film in a college dining hall when it first came out, and not comfortably ensconced on my couch with a PAUSE button. But you still won't catch me running through tall grass in the dark!

As more than one reviewer has noted, the swamp grass is one of the main characters of this film. What an accomplishment!

I would rank this with Throne of Blood as great Japanese film. The acting is superb. The story is gripping. The musical accompaniment is intense and cosmopolitan. Not a month has gone buy over the last 30 years that I haven't been scared of this 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.

A lot of people tag this as "Japanese horror". I tend to view this as a stylized drama. It may be splitting hairs, but there really never is a "true evil" device that so-called conventional horror movies employ or dictate to the audience. What we have here are emotions running high in a time of desperate survival.
Mother' and Daughter-in-law endure a meager life killing wayward samurai and pawning off whatever weapons and/or armor they recover. It's a harsh reality they must face until the hopeful day that Mother's son returns from the Japanese civil war. Hachi, their neighbor and fellow soldier of their son, escapes the fighting and brings news of her son's death. He settles and takes an immediate interest for the young Daughter-in-law. This unveils a fever pitch tapestry of lust, envy and paranoia on all sides when Mother confirms Daughter's "treachery". This stages a bizarre conclusion that, if not predictable, will stay with you for a while at least.
Given that this a work from 1964, I would say that it must be applauded. It's filmed in black & white when mastermind Kaneto Shindo could've filmed in color. But he felt the environment needed sharp contrast, and it worked. The source sound is (more than) a little rough but manageable if in the right frame of mind. There obviously was no way to totally clean up the source track. But to dismiss ONIBABA because of some technical merits would be missing a great film.
Speaking of which, the use of minimal dynamics to accent the performances is a signature style of early Japanese cinematography. The movie used basically just one location with endless fields of susuki grasses. He relied on emotion much more thsn dialog. And the music was predominantly percussive.
The DVD extras were appreciated. It may not be the most eesential material, but they could've scrapped a lot of it if they wanted. Shindo, in a recent interview, graciously covers the intentions of the film. Kei Sato's (Hachi) personal video film reveals a lot of on-set action. Also a little booklet inside makes for a fun read.
Highly recommended DVD for those looking for something outside the typical Hollywood fare.

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.

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.

ALL I WANT IS MY DVD!!!

Ever wondered what Basho's work might have been like in the age of cinema? It could well have been this. Simple story line, paucity of artistic means, narrative flows linearly, tension builds at constant pace, until the end which is GONG-like, and ensuing reverberation... like the jump of the frog in water. Overall, a summit of artistic expressions. Be prepared to experience ART as life and LIFE as art!

Besides the great actors , Sex is also cast in this film. Sex is manifest in its various forms: archetypal, aware or not, explicit or alluded at by, say, the waves of reeds in the wind, animal or poetic, and on and on. The score, by Hikaru Hayashi, is also remarkable.

Wonderful and generous package from Criterion--no surprise here. Crisp sound and black and white images. Good commentary. It is of note to hear Kaneto Shindō, the author, saying that this film was enjoyed by the public much more so than by critics of its time--1964.