This fine tatekan style poster was made to promote the Japanese historical drama Onibaba. That’s a word from Japanese folklore meaning something like “witch,” or “hag,” but with a sort of hellish or otherworldly connotation. Because of this theme, some sites call Onibaba a horror movie. Okay, sure. Whatever floats their boats. But whether you stretch the definition of horror to inlcude the film or not, there’s no doubt that it’s a dark excursion.
Set during Japan’s 14th century Nanboku-chō period during a war which has led to mass population displacement, impending starvation, and desperation, humanity’s worst instincts—always present to some degree—have come to the fore. Mother and daughter Nobuko Otawa and Jitsuko Yoshimura live in a marsh and survive by killing wandering soldiers and selling stolen weapons and armor. They’re on their own because Nobuko’s son Kichi—Jitsuko’s husband—was taken off to war along with their neighbor Kei Satô. When Satô finally returns he’s alone. Kichi was killed.
Satô immediately begins trying to sidle up to his buddy’s widow, and Jitsuko fairly quickly succumbs to his overtures, creating the possibility that Nobuko will have to survive alone—which she can’t. She can’t ambush, kill, and strip soldiers’ valuables solo. She feels angry, powerless, and dispairing in no particular order. Then a strange masked man arrives in the marsh, and she suddenly sees a way to separate the lovers. But the consequences of doing so could spin out of control.
Onibaba is a symbolism laden movie, with some nice surprises in the narrative. We won’t discuss either of those aspects to avoid spoilers, and we won’t go into detail about its ambiguous ending. What we’ll tell you is that it’s a visual masterpiece shot in lush black and white in the beautiful desolation of Inba Marsh, in Chiba Prefecture, and narratively its broken world, apocalypse adjacent feel works brilliantly as a backdrop for the bleak dramas of its characters. Horror movie? If horror is to see humanity with its restraints cut loose, then yes. Onibaba premiered in Japan today in 1964.
