Kanashimi no Belladonna

Belladonna (哀しみのベラドンナ) is an art house animation feature animated film produced in 1973 by Mushi Production. Directed and co-written by Eiichi Yamamoto and inspired by Jules Michelet's non-fiction book Satanism and Witchcraft, it is the third and final film in the Animerama trilogy and the only one to be neither written nor directed by Osamu Tezuka (he left Mushi Production during the film's early stages to concentrate on his comics and his conceptual-stage contribution is uncredited). Belladonna is also of a more serious tone than the more comedic first two Animerama films. Its visuals consist mostly of still paintings panned across and are strongly influenced by western art, particularly Aubrey Beardsley, Gustav Klimt and classic tarot illustrations. The film was a commercial failure and contributed to Mushi Pro becoming bankrupt by the end of the year. The film was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival.

It follows the story of Jeanne, a peasant woman who is raped which leads to her being accused of witchcraft, and is notable for its graphic and suggestively erotic, violent and psychedelic imagery. The film was released in Europe and Japan, but no official DVD with English subtitles exists.

Cast

 * Jeanne: (Aiko Nagayama)
 * Jean: (Katsutaka Ito)
 * Witch: (Tatsuya Tashiro)
 * The Devil (Tatsuya Nakadai)
 * Milord: (Masaya Takahashi)
 * Milady: (Shigaku Shimegi)
 * Catholic Priest: (Masakane Yonekura)
 * Narrator: (Chinatsu Nakayama)

Trivia

 * The drawing style of this movie was the inspiration for the drawing styles of Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo.
 * Kunihiko Ikuhara, director of the S and Stars seasons of Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena has stated that Kanashimi no Belladonna was his inspiration to work in anime. The influence is more clear in Utena than in Sailor Moon.