Directed by Kaneto Shindō, Onibaba follows two women struggling to survive during a period of civil war, whose lives become entangled with desire, fear and a mysterious mask. The story unfolds in a rural setting shaped by isolation and survival, combining elements of psychological and folk horror.

Eureka - Masters of Cinema

Kaneto Shindô, one of Japans most prolific directors, received his biggest international success with the release of Onibaba [The Demoness] in 1964. Its depiction of violence and graphic sexuality was unprecedented at the time of release.

Shindô managed through his own production company Kindai Eiga Kyôkai to bypass the strict, self-regulated Japanese film industry and pave the way for such films as Yasuzo Masumuras Môjû [Blind Beast] and Nagisa Ôshimas Ai no corrida / In the Realm of the Senses. Onibaba [or Onibabaa, in its alternate spelling] is set during a brutal period in history, a Japan ravaged by civil war between rivalling shogunates. Weary from combat, samurai are drawn towards the seven-foot high susuki grass fields to hide and rest themselves, whereupon they are ambushed and murdered by a ruthless mother (Nobuko Otowa) and daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) team.

The women throw the samurai bodies into a pit, and barter their armour and weapons for food. When Hachi (Kei Satô), a neighbour returning from the wars, brings bad news, he threatens the womens partnership.

Erotically charged and steeped in the symbolism and superstition of its Buddhist and Shintô roots, Kaneto Shindôs Onibaba is in part a modern parable on consumerism, a study of the destructiveness of sexual desire and filmed within a claustrophobic sea of grass one of the most striking and unique films of Japans last half-century.

The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to