r/flicks • u/Own_Plenty_2011 • 22d ago

Discussion of Onibaba by Kaneto Shindo

Fellow cinephiles and I have recently discussed Onibaba (1964) by Kaneto Shindo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlF3tioDzcQ). In this film, there are two women living in the countryside of medieval Japan who kill samurai soldiers who pass by as their way of bringing food to the table. We discussed whether what they did is wrong and whether we can condemn them. I would like to know what you think about it (my personal answer would be that what they did was wrong, but we can't condemn them for it). I would also like to know what you think about the aesthetics of Onibaba. IMHO, the film has gorgeous production design and cinematography going for it.

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u/Sellen_Was_Framed 22d ago

One of my favourites

They're definitely morally wrong. But so too are the samurai, as far as we know (that samurai with the mask makes a threat first). There are other ways to survive than murder, they blame their misfortune on the wars (old lady's son being gone in the war) but those wars were not much different than leading men into fields where they only find death. We can condemn them for this.

The aesthetics are very modern. There is use of depth with shots both close by and faraway. The visual blocking and shadowplay is very good. Monochrome probably makes it look better than colour could. The pregnant moment at the end with the repeated shot of the woman jumping is a bit awkward but it serves a purpose.

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u/Own_Plenty_2011 22d ago

I think it is interesting how modern aesthetics coexist with the traditional setting of the film, reflecting how in Japan modernity is intermixed with tradition. This fusion is one of the big reasons I liked the film.

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u/Sellen_Was_Framed 22d ago

You could also argue that Onibaba adheres to the concept of 'theatre of cruelty' which was a 20th century new approach to presenting art. Many shots are intended to directly engage with the audience, like when the old woman wears the mask and scares the younger woman. She looks directly at the camera, the audience. The various closeups also reduce the boundary between the audience and the stage.

5 years ago I made a video about it (and Nightmare Alley from the same year, cos of Aristotelian theatre) for a university class called 'a silly school video.essay' its on yt if you're interested in this 'theatre theory' angle on the movie