The story itself is sad and tragic. All Jeanne and Jean wanted was a peaceful and quiet life, settle down and have a child or two, 'til that b*stard of a baron ruined it! I know Jeanne made the mistake of making a deal with the Devil, but in my opinion, I think the baron should have been punished. Jeanne was an innocent woman, until that dude came along.
@@Tsubasa2030 The film is supposed to have a strong feminist message. I'm upset the baron never got what he deserved, though. According to the director, the message is meant to be that nothing is black and white, even the devil can be sympathetic in a certain context. Jeanne WAS innocent. She never did a single thing wrong.
@@Tsubasa2030 It's highly likely he was punished off screen, actually. A significant amount of nobility and clergy were executed, during the French Revolution. And seeing how pissed off the peasants were that he killed her, after she helped them more than he did, it's safe to assume they put him to death, too. They likely killed Priest too, for the same reason
I definitely get that. Jean turned on Jeanne when she needed him most, even abusing her when he turned to alcohol. But I also see with how the film utilizes how mob mentality and fear is utilized by those who seek power for control, it creates fear. Even when Jeanne was raped, the green growing on his body was a representation of fear that her body possesses devious energy. Jean was an example of how fear could tear them apart, but when seeing her being executed he finally realized it before he’d be killed too.
Or maybe he did wanted to help in the early times,but scared cuz people who gangr*ped his wife are people who are elites,and he doesn't have backup groups to help fight the group who r*ped Jeanne
My heart broke so much for Jeanne - all she wanted was justice for what had been done to her. And yet, yet she was so strong that she lived on in a way. If that isn't a powerful message than I don't know what is. In death there can be life, in misery there is beauty. This anime proves that.
No he was coward that kept on living miserable life and finally realized that even if he dies he will stand up to the source of his pain the king. He loved her but was cowards and selfish. His fate was decided anyways die facing king early on or die later. But later came with more pain and shame for him
@@youngdegenerate Which is why it's weird that the narrator said he was a kind man at the beginning. But you have to admit, he ended up trying to stop the execution, so she must've meant something to him.
It’s funny, i didn’t understand the movie the same way as some of the comments, especially the figure of the devil. I don’t think the devil villanized her actually, or that he was supposed to be a villain. “I am you” he said the first time they met, and as such, for me, he is the incarnation of her rebellion, and this rebellion expressed in different manners: her embracing her sexuality without shame, her achieving financial wealth thanks to the ambition the devil allowed her to embrace, her embracing her true nature finally towards the end. Her ambition and rebellion, this part of her she had repressed, and still fights against during half of the movie, could be represented by a devil because this is what has been taught to her by the people around her, the society she lives in: they see empowerment of women and of the oppressed in general as a sin (hence the two real bad guys of the story are the baron and the preacher, the two characters whose power is threatened by her in the movie, and coincidentally enough, the two symbolic authorities the French Revolution referenced at the end of the movie sought to eradicate - the clergy and the aristocracy). Hence the devil is not a bad figure, but appears threatening or scary at first to her, because she refuses to embrace this part of her, she knows the risks, and she is still embedded in the value system she grew up in. If anything, the devil gave her what she truly desired to set herself free, the dreadful consequences of this empowerment are only due to people who are afraid of her gaining power, not to the devil who literally is her (note that nobody else sees him). If she transforms into a witch, it’s because the figure of witches was instrumentalized in medieval Europe to categorize women who were threatening to the society and basically get rid of them (either because of their liberated sexuality, or because of the influence and power they had gained). The ones accusing these women actually often said the they were possessed by the devil. Nowadays, this figure is even often reappropriated by feminists to symbolize the freedom they want to achieve and the fact that they are still demonized for it (see Sorcières / Witches, the undefeated power of women by Mona Chollet).
Beautiful take on the message and theme of the movie. Really helped me understand and put togheter the milion thoughts i had in my head after finish the film. Truly thanks a lot!
Thank you, I didn't see it any way other than this as well. It seemed to me the devil was just a physical manifestation of her own wants and desires: she wanted freedom, to have her own life and free herself of the trauma she endured. I never thought that he tricked her into a life of witchcraft. It always seemed a strictly feminist tale of owning your sexuality and body.
From my view, the devil symbolizes her clitoris, meaning the power of her vagina. And the fact he has a sex scene with her further proves that point because he then refers to "give me your belly", meaning the power of her vagina transfigurates into the act of creation/transformation in her belly. Women sex power at its full. On the money element, I personally don't see as a proper use of this same power by Jeanne, on the contrary I see it as a suggestion of not using it because in the end it's fruitless, women by using the money power are going to clash against whoever has the upper hand in thinking about their own for their natural inclination, meaning men and men-based societal rules. Money can be useful but not in terms of accumulation per se but in terms of putting it to good use for other people, like it happens when jeanne sells the mule and like it happens with Jeanne helping other people to be better with the use of the Belladonna just for the sake of doing it, with no personal gain in between. It's the same thing the creator of the american comic book Character Wonder Woman thought, the true power of women relies on their vagina powers over men, in their unability to think for themselves in egotical ways (something like Jean does before finally changing his mind) and in their creation/transformation abilities, not in the continuous accumulation of money. In facts, it's one of the reasons why I love this movie so much, it embodies the same elements that man thought. Not all of them, but a shitload of them yes.
The way she said "Jean" as her final word is so heartbreaking. 😭 It makes me mad that the baron that started all this didn't receive any comeuppance whatsoever
Jeanne's death is quite horrific imo. Being crucified, tied to a wooden cross in chains, burned, and have the cross and her charred corpse crumble is quite a horrific sight.
Supposedly, there was an ending that had Jeanne burning and the devil was seen laughing (as he always does in this movie). The whole ending with the faces and the paintings were added in a later re-release. However, I have never seen the original ending.
a bit off topic but iirc i think there was a version of this movie with irl sex scenes? i remember it saying said scenes were shown when jeanne was having sex with the devil
Apparently, the faces of the women becoming Jeanne's was there since the original release. That makes sense, because this was foreshadowed in the story: the priest warned the lord how other women will be inspired by her, after she was captured when Jean didn't let her in. But the paintings about the French Revolution were added later
Purplebishop RPGandBoardGamer It’s also in Shudder (paid subscription, but 30 day free corona virus code SHUTIN is still valid when I typed this), Tubi (free), and Kanopy (free with library account and library card #).
I feel like this would've been better if Jean had actually killed Lord Bonehead before being impaled, that way Jeanne would've hade some form of revenge on him.
Jeanne is actually the one who has won all along. Jean was too weak to change the world, while Jeanne died as a symbol of freedom for women. Jeanne was the beginning that led to the victory of the free over the laws of God.
@@LightSchiffer But Bonehead ended up killing her, and she ended up burning at the stake. The only thing she did to him was drain him of his respect from the villagers, and she indirectly got him to kill his own wife and page.
@@evancredeur7498 A character's death is not always its defeat. So many characters in animes, movies, books...have died in many ways, as heroes, as normal persons, victims, martyr, or even natural causes of death, or disease. If you enjoy anime, what do you think anime characters from various series such as L, Spike Spiegel, Lelouch Vi Britannia, Yang Wen-li, Cesar Zeppeli, Kamina...have died for ? They never died for nothing. NEVER. There was always a reason. The only thing in common is that the death of a character has something to tell, and is necessary for the other character's development. Jeanne died as a martyr in the eyes of the people. "We all are Jeanne", as shown by the women sharing her face. Jeanne became their symbol, their inspiration. The will of freedom of Jeanne lived on through them. That will of the dead that lives on through the ones who lives...THIS is why a character's death is always important. Lord Bonehead has won absolutelynothing, he remained the same all along, as a slave of his faith in religion, doing what he thought was the right thing to do. His model of society has fallen apart, because freedom is immensely is stronger than faith. "Belladonna of Sadness" is among the best feminist manifesto ever made, along with movies like Thelma & Louise. Belladonna of Sadness deserved so much more success instead of leading its animation studio to bankrupcy, especially for a movie that comes from Japan, a country where men and women are so far from equal at the time, and still is to this day.
Seems to be an instrumental of the main title song, but it's not included in the soundtrack release for some reason. Actually, a lot of songs from the movie aren't in the soundtrack. I don't know why.
I wish I could have a version of this song without the voices/sound effects. I always wondered why so many songs are absent from the official soundtrack, but maybe some mad lad would actually do it or recreate it by ear or some shit
It's quite a horrific sight imo. Most women who get burned for being a witch are normally tied to a stake, and the stake is still intact, but since they used a wooden cross for Jeanne that can barely stand the flames, it kinda makes her death ten times horrific. It's not just the cross that crumbles under the flames, but her charred body also crumbles to pieces too.
@@project_arianightcore7280Not all who got burned at stake are witches...Even the saint Joan of Arc got burned just for being a woman fighting for her country,and the same hypocrites from religion are the ones that murdered her
Seriously ? It's quite obvious though. These women were there when Jeanne introduced them to freedom. When they saw Jeanne burning at the stake, When men saw Jean trying (desperately) to attack Lord Bonehead for what he did... People were inspired. Jean died, killed by the repression of authorities, men were stopped from starting a riot against Lord Bonehead's tyrannic power. Men were inspired by Jean's sacrifice. Women watched Jeanne burning, prayed for her....Jeanne inspired them. The changing of faces in all of them means: "We're all Jeanne." They all have the right to be free people, they all have the right to fight for their freedom and emancipation from men. They were now conscious of who they really are, and what was right. Jeanne died, but she is the one who has won. More recently, in 2005, the movie V for Vendetta shares a similarity, for this scene in the ending where everyone wears the Guy Fawkes mask. The people were all V. In the anime Code Geass (2006), there is a scene were everyone dressed up as Zero, to protest against the empire of Brittania. Even more recently, in Joker (2019), Arthur Fleck, who became the Joker, inspired the oppressed people, who were wearing clown masks. Every revolution has started historically through an inspiring figure, a person, or a symbol. This is why in the movie Belladonna of Sadness, we all were Jeanne at the end.
Stupenda pellicola, certo non è chissà che cosa ma la sceneggiatura è interessante, l' animazione grafica non mi è piaciuta del tutto, ci sono degli errori come il fatto che usare qualcosa come la crocifissione per punire un criminale sarebbe impensabile nell'Europa cristiana. Forse i cineasti hanno utilizzato modelli giapponesi, dove era ampiamente utilizzato nel Giappone tradizionale, quindi stupenda e stupenda per me come valutazione è 8.
Because the horrible nobility and religious officials behind the European witch-hunts had no sense of irony, self-awareness, or basic human compassion.
She’s a Jesus allegory that’s why. She dies for the sins of women and part of her lives on in them. Like the father (the devil) the son (Jeanne), and the holy ghost(her spirit which has spread to others)
