The wedding night of beautiful Jeanne (voiced by Aiko Nagayama) is irreversibly tainted when she is violently deflowered by swarms of men headed by the local baron. Shattered, she offers her body and soul to the devil (voiced by Tatsuya Nakadai) in exchange for mystical powers, bringing abundance and ecstasy to the people––but it doesn’t take long before the witch hunt begins.

Mushi Production, originally headed by Osamu Tezuka, released Belladonna of Sadness as the final work of its X-rated Animerama trilogy in a last-ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy. For over 40 years, Belladonna clung to the depths of cinephilia with obscure European DVD releases and pirated low-res uploads, until its stunning comeback in 2016, when it was restored and re-released in 4K. Sensual watercolour stills and frantic orgiastic sequences are set to avant-garde jazz in this experimental retelling of a timeless tale. Belladonna is nothing short of a cult masterpiece that bewitches all who encounter it.

M+ Cinema will present a 4K restoration of this film.

Eiichi Yamamoto (1940–2021, Japan) was a pioneering film director and anime screenwriter known for his work for Mushi Production. A close collaborator of Osamu Tezuka, Yamamoto penned legendary series like Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. He made a significant impact on Japanese animation history by directing the Animerama trilogy, setting a precedent for studio-funded theatrical releases of experimental animations aimed at mature audiences.