Onibaba Blu-ray

'Onibaba' Director: Kaneto Shindō (1964 ) Eureka Masters of Cinema Blu-ray | Japanese w/English subtitles.

Set during a brutal period in history, in a Japan ravaged by civil war between rivalling shogunates. Weary from combat, samurai are drawn towards the seven-foot high susuki grass fields to hide and rest themselves, whereupon they are ambushed and murdered by a ruthless mother and daughter-in-law team, who barter their armour and weapons for food. When a neighbour returning from the wars brings bad news, he threatens the women’s partnership..

Erotically charged and steeped in the symbolism and superstition of its Buddhist and Shintō roots, Onibaba is in part a modern parable on consumerism, a study of the destructiveness of sexual desire and — filmed within a claustrophobic sea of grass — one of the most striking and unique films of Japan’s last half-century, with a bloodcurdling score from master composer Hikaru Hayashi (Kuroneko, Blind Beast).

Special features include:
- Audio commentary by director Kaneto Shindô and the stars of the film, Kei Satô and Jitsuko Yoshimura
- Video introduction by Alex Cox
- 46 minutes of 8mm footage shot on location by lead actor Kei Satô
- 36-page booklet with an essay by Doug Cummings; a 2004 statement from Kaneto Shindô; an English translation of the original fable; a 1972 interview with Shindô conducted by Joan Mellen