Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
DigiCat
I went into this movie not really with any expectations, but rather, very knowingly of it's controversial reputation.
The audience is generally split into 2 extremes here, on the one side, (let's call them side A) those who consider Belladonna Of Sadness a masterpiece of the arts which conveys deep meaning in it's unconventional execution, on the other, (and side B) those who see it as overrated shock value and may or may not want to pour bleach in their eyes after viewing it. So, which side is right?
I've always been a firm believer that the truth always lies somewhere in the middle, that said... i think you can tell by the bright red letters up top who i'm more in agreement with
To put it in the simplest of terms, this movie can be condenced down to 2 things: rape and orgies (and quite…
Read at the sourcesimalacrum
What a waste of excitement. I haven’t been disappointed like that in a while.
This movie tells you literally nothing. It was most definitely created without consulting any women or people who experienced SA. It’s just sad for the sake of being sad. I am most cross with media that has astonishing visuals and just pours all its beauty down the drain of storytelling.
Also I absolutely despise that husband dude, Jaque. He didn’t deserve a single good thing. Any woman, any human, at this point. Just a piece of scum in every possible way. Let’s not forget that he was the greatest villain of this story and the greatest “sinner” too.
If you want a better version of the same theme I recommend watching “The Witch” by Robert Eggers or “Kite”.
Read at the sourceSonicfan__
Wow, I never thought I would find a bad movie tonight, but I did.
The only positive thing I can say about this film was the art style, which was beautiful to look at. As Roger Ebert said, I hated this movie. Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated it.
The film is very exploitive towards women and it's to an uncomfortable degree, which I guess the filmmakers were going for, but you could've at least shown it in a way that doesn't feel like you're giving the audience something to wack off to because we didn't need to see Jeanne getting sexually assaulted 5 times in the first 20 minutes. This movie is also just really boring. I actually nearly fell asleep multiple times and that hasn't happened since I watched Dune in 2022.
This movie has a bit of a mixed reputation these days because some peo…
Read at the sourcejuviia
Rape Porn. Skip.
It draws you in with beautiful art, composition, and music, only to keep showing abuse over and over again in that same “beautiful” style. It tries to be something it’s not.
It’s nothing but the glorification of sexual violence — not for the sake of the plot, not for character development,
but simply the creators wanted to show it.
A waste of not only your time, the character designer and all of the artists working on it but also my energy that is being ragebaited to write this review. Story is your average man going "women = sorrow = artistic value up by 1000", we never find out anything about Jeanne except her pleasure points and the color of her nipples.
Read at the sourceReticentaur
If viewers are able to depart from any preconceived notions before watching, then they will see something that is at times wonderful, but often quite flawed; at the very least, it is certainly an experience. The unusual watercolour aesthetic, I found to be quite appealing, but a common criticism reasonably made being that there are too many still shots or panning over a single image. When there is actually animation it often flows pleasingly or, in some instances, blooms to life like a painting coming into being.
Belladonna of Sadness is certainly vivid, striking, provocative, and laden with imagery and symbolism; and there is a potentially poignant story of a pitiful woman crushed by despair and circumstance, having being born under the yoke of what is depicted as hypocritical, tyrannica…
Read at the source1stDecame4Danime
*Severe epilepsy warning for 1 long scene*
Stylistically, the closest I could compare this to would be Disney's Fantasia with lots of focus on music and avant-garde artistic bombast instead of the story itself. But the movie suffers from terrible pacing as it is painfully slow where it has nothing more to show and yet skips through most actual plot points. And the story itself is not good both because of the plot and the views conveyed therein.
I always disliked the Spider and the Fly/The Scorpion and the Frog. It's not as if the parable can't be done well, it's just the way they do it is a bigoted eugenics dehumanizing perspective of "It's in their nature to be evil, you mustn't trust those tricksy subhumans." right at home with any other supremacist ideals. One could very easily see a…
Read at the sourcespikethedragon
The rest of these reviewers need to go back to primary school to develop some critical thinking skills.
This film is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. The story it portrays takes the typical "witch" folklore and turns it on its head. What's more, the breathtaking original soundtrack takes the viewer by the hand, and guides them through each of Jeanne's defining moments. The audience gets a representation of the emotions she's experiencing at the hands of her village, and has no choice but to feel empathetic towards who she chose to become in order to protect herself.
Other reviewers will tell you that the erotic elements of the film do not live up to their expectations, or that they're too violent or graphic. Honey, that's the point. Jeanne's story is one of bloodshed, and it sim…
Read at the sourceShumi_Reviews
“Belladonna of Sadness” is a Japanese animated film that doesn't have much animation going on. Instead, it's based on an array of hand drawn water colored still images panning across the screen. The plot revolves around a Faustian story that at times almost feels like it came out of Berserk with demonic faces, creepy imagery and a medieval timeline. However, removing the film’s thin feminist cover reveals that most of the trauma and violence is only there for shock value and portrays how people thought about such things back in the 70s.
The movie’s art is interesting, the characters apart from Jeane have a really creepy uncomfortable vibe. Most of it flows like you’re reading a still manga with just a few scenes where characters do very basic motions. The special effects have that 60’s p…
Read at the sourcedesmaraisp
Genuine shite, skip this one. If you thought this movie had anything meaningful to say about its themes (rape, sexual abuse, etc.), you'll be disappointed, it's just torture porn the whole way through. Good music, but that's about it. The art is nice, but relies way too much on stills. Hated it so much everyone who worked on this is on my shitlist now, and I will personally judge anyone who recommends this to me
This might be the single worst movie in human existence, no joke. Is your fun in life watching someone get raped, then sexualized in the same breath? If so, then you'll love this. At least this will be a good litmus test to quickly spot the people you should stay away from.
If I have to summarize the movie in one sentence, it would be to describe it as a glorified rape fantasy m…
Read at the sourceBiisoo
Based on the Novel, La Sorciere by Jules Michelet.
Also a disclaimer, This is an X-rated film that children should steer clear from.
Let me preface by saying that this is The most unique and weird movie I've ever seen. Why that is you ask? Simply because it's filled with trippy acid visuals, A very novel and psychedelic approach to storytelling that I've never seen and it actually has minimal animation too. What I mean by that is most of the movie is just pictures that convey stuff. Yet I still think this movie managed to engage me as a viewer and I was not bored at any moment. It has a very Avante Garde vibe (If you're not familiar with this term, It basically means that it shows events and depicts them in a very unorthodox manner, different from conventional means). This type of story…
Read at the sourceblueberryseele
While this is definitely an acid trip of a movie, the abstract symbolism of sexual trauma tells the story of a victim of religion. Jeannes sadness begins when the baron rapes her as a part of her marriage tax. When she finds consolation in witchcraft, it's the baron and the rest of the church that shame her and later kill her for it.
But despite her physical collapse, she wins morally. The towns people, upon witnessing Jeannes death and her husband, Jean, trying to save her, they realize the barons evil ways and commence a revolution.
Satan is a complicated part of the movie; the meaning of the movie changes a lot with how you interpret him: as a symbol of a rape victims internal guilt and shame or the patriarchal society around that victim shaming them and blaming them for what happened…
Read at the sourceSzanowna_Herbata
Bro, I hate making long reviews.
Anyway, Belladonna of Sadness is quite a masterpiece when it comes to symbolics and artstyle, but overall - not so much.
Sure it is about a woman who explores depths of her own mind and body, but I wouldn't say it's really that interesting.
Symbolics such as the devil, the whole belladonna thing and colour symbolics are really good, they actually made me interested in this whole film.
I also can't complain about the animation, it's a anime from 1973, we can't expect Studio Bones like quality. Artstyle - absolutely gorgeous, it truly made the movie stand out from others.
I think my whole mixed feelings are because of the plot itself, because I couldn't help but stop the movie to see how long does it take to end.
Music is also not likeable, well atleast…
Read at the sourcetropika
Psychedelic shitshow that sexualises sexual violence and abuse towards women. I think I made a mistake watching this because Osamu Dezaki was involved and Tatsuya Nakadai voice acted in it, lesson learnt. It's supposed to be about sexual liberation but the art is crude and brutally exploitative. The creator of this movie were probably a bunch of men with no idea the nuance of the experience of woman and their sexuality. Really unique art and watercolours used, really some of the frames were gorgeous. But tacky and gaudy execution.
I rarely write reviews, i just hate this movie so much i had to write one.
Read at the sourcexXDAGGERHEARTXx
Don't be tricked by a pretty face and what sounds like an interesting plot description; this movie is dull as paste.
You'd think with such harrowing plot points that the story would gripping and intense but the way its told is so unbearably slow and with such pretentious self aggrandizing that even the most dire circumstances become grim monotony.
The art can be incredibly beautiful in snapshots but those snapshots are sparsely sprinkled through very minimally animated sections, infinitely looping scenes that go on forever, and outright still images. You'd really get the whole art experience of this just looking at a collection of screenshots. I'd honestly say that's worth it, the art style really works when it works. The problem is it doesn't like getting up and working.
All in all, sa…
Read at the sourceIzzyMarrie
Provacative, surreal, and psychedelic, this is a film unlike anything I've seen before. The artstyle, sometimes muted, washed with watercolor dripping down the screen, and other times loud with vivid reds and greens that pop out at the viewer, is as beautiful as it is haunting. The animation, minimal at best, is slightly choppy but surprisingly very fluid during very specific scenes. It all feels purposefully done, as if to make those scenes stand out even more than the others. The music also serves a very large role, other than the instruments helping to convey the tone of the scene, often the singer will serve as a dual narrator, as if to spell out the melancholy of the main character as well as the crossroads at which she stands.
This isn't going to be a movie for everyone. I'm going t…
Read at the sourceKeiths219
"The Belladonna of Sadness" is quite literally that - sadness. It's an estetically pleasing and abstract movie about a woman who lost everything dear to her due to her tragic fate and bad decisions in life.
If this kind of artistic movie were to be made today, most ordinary anime fans would absolutely hate it. Why? Because of the way it was made. It is almost completely made of moving drawings. In my opinion drawings are amazing though and really express the characters. Another thing that surprised me is the use of singing in telling the story. I don't usually like that kind of thing, but here it was very welcome.
This film definitely isn't for everyone. It is very slow-paced and its main themes are depressing and heartbreaking. I was blown away by how emotionally heavy all the events we…
Read at the sourceakavish
This is basically a moving picture, but also not. Sometimes the animation is very good and sometimes it looks like the creators just gave up and just have stills. The art is mostly the only good part, but then there was no need to make a film, just make a bunch of paintings... the music was alright. I do praise the art but it really feels like Jeanne only has two facial expressions, which is odd when it juxtapositions her empowerment/orgasm and her humiliation/rape.
Mostly the film feels gratuitous with its violence against women. There is no need for so much rape, murder, and brutalization of random women and closeups of their genitals. There is a whole scene where it's just animated sex and rape of random women all together in a circle on Jean's hair; it feels almost like the creators ar…
Read at the sourceTimeFliesAway
Story: 3 poor
Art: 9 great
Sound: 8 very good
Character: 3 poor
Enjoyment: 3 poor
Overall: 5 mediocre
I didn’t enjoy it at all, it was almost torture to get to the ending. I wanted to see if it gets better towards the end, and I mean it was only 1 and half an hour, but really, it felt like I was watching a series all day long. Time didn’t pass at all, and at some point I started drawing incidentally, while still glimpsing a few times over.
I do love the animation and I admire the work of the animators. Some transitions must’ve taken forever, and it’s amazing how much detail there sometimes was.
Overall you might think it was poorly animated, considering the people usually just consists of some lines and a bit of colorization here and there. It’s more comparable with a picture book for…
Read at the source_Nacho_
The psychedelic visuals and the smooth transitions between art styles were surprisingly interesting for this era of anime. The watercolor aesthetic especially stood out to me and for the most part was the only reason I kept watching.
Story-wise it was difficult to see what kind of ideas were presented. My interpretation morphed as the film progressed. Initially, it seemed as though I was supposed to believe that "clean and pure women", in mostly a sexual way (i.e. virgins and post-marital sex ONLY), is what is morally correct and is a woman's obligation to god and men. That being sexually abused by a man exploiting his power can make even an honest, hard-working, "man's man" of your husband neglect you now that you are "ruined".
Later on, in seems that in some ways I can see the attempt…
Read at the sourcestefxstefani
Summary:
It almost feels disrespectful to give this anime a 3/5. The time you can tell was put into the art is commendable and the music is just as good as the art.
The story opens up with lovers, Jeanne and Jean who plan on getting married under a society where economics and your ability work hand-in-hand, and happen to be in debt. As punishment the Village Lord rapes Jeanne and continues to ruin both their lives.
Jeanne reunites with her lover after the assault under the pretense that he is there to comfort her but he begins to strangle her.
Now here is where my interpretation of the happenings in the film get a little muddy. I believe she was either left unconscious or killed after the fact and that is when the Devil manifest itself. Jeanne offers her body to the devil in exchange…
Read at the source
