Runtime: 103 minutes
Directed by: Kaneto Shindo
Starring: Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Sato, Jukichi Uno, Taiji Tonoyama
From: Kindai Eiga Kyokai
A smiling crab kimono needs to be part of my wardrobe.
Tuesday night I went to the Criterion Channel and realized that I may see more than one Kaneto Shindo movie the rest of the year. It only made sense to check out his most famous work, at least in the West. It’s a title I’ve known of for years—besides it being distinctive, its terrifying Hannya mask and its usage online in messageboards & such meant that it was time for me to see what this movie whose title is translated as some variation of “Demon Hag” was all about.
It’s a methodically-paced picture where much of the runtime features only a trio of characters; yet, it’s still a great film. A young adult lady and her mother in law live in feudal Japan; what a miserable time in the country… a brutal war has resulted in famine so the women are forced to kill men to steal their wares for barter. The young lady’s husband doesn’t return from combat, but his best friend does; the husband is said to be murdered. Things became far more HORNY than I expected and it’s only in the third act when the Hannya mask comes into play. Believe it or not, the mother in law wears a kimono emblazoned w/ smiling crabs; never could I have predicted that before I hit “play”.
What makes this stand out: it’s excellently directed by Shindo, for starters. The setting is marshy grasslands and it’s perfect; so are the performances from the small cast and how shadow/light are used with this black & white picture. Best of all is the incredible score from Hikaru Hayashi-some of it sounds like free jazz but mostly it is taiko drums (which are awesome in of itself) and one piece features… a human scream, which managed to be great outside the thinking there. The first two acts you may wonder why some classify this as horror-from Wiki, I know that even critics argue over how to best classify this-then the final act arrives and those elements are more prevalent. Irregardless, it is quite the overly sensual tale full of passion where its minimalism made it so engrossing. As long as the two women killing a puppy for a carnivore meal isn’t a deal-breaker for you…
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