Onibaba

909 Words2 Pages

Kaneto Shindō’s Onibaba,through its stark portrayal of the animalistic side of human life, engages with the questions of sin and evil. ‘Onibaba’ are women who have turned to demons as a result of negative karma. As the retelling of a popular mythological tale, the film inverts the traditional story of the ‘onibaba’ or demon hag who is punished by the Buddha for thwarting a young girl’s spiritual ambitions.Kichi’s old mother and widowed wife live by ambushing warriors and selling their armour and samurai swords in return for the luxury of a few sacks of millet. A conflict of interests develops between the two women when Hachi, a friend of Kichi’s, returns from the battlefield to seek asylum in the old woman’s hut and the young woman transgresses …show more content…

For instance, here the onibaba is one who tries to intimidate her daughter-in-law into subservience and filial piety by constant reminders of the wrath of the Buddha that lascivious women have to endure. The plot revolves around two women inhabiting a swampland, an old woman and her daughter-in-law, played by Nobuko Otowa and Jitsuko Yoshimura respectively. Driven by the fear of destitution, they hide in the long grass, pounce upon Samurai deserters, murder them and strip their bodies of valuable armour and other adornments to sell to a hoarder in exchange for food.The setting of the movie is the war-torn 14th-century Japan. The menfolk have been conscripted to fight in a brutal war, with heavy losses on either side. The battle referenced here is the Battle of Minatogawa which occurred on 25 May 1336 between the forces of Emperor Go-Daigo and those of the Ashikaga Takauji in which Takauji razed to the groundGo-Daigo’s forces. It is to be understood that Kichi and Hachi fled the battlefield in the ensuing confusion. On his way back to safety, Kichi is killed by a horde of angry peasants and his young wife is left a widow. One day, out of nowhere, Hachi, played by Kei Sato, suddenly returns to the old woman’s shack. He reveals that he has deserted the army and that since Kichi has been killed in

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