Onibaba

Please note the purpose of this blog is to discuss established classics that I've never seen. As such, the following is laden with spoilers.

Why So Long?
I know you'll find this hard to believe but revered, fifty-year old Japanese horror films aren't exactly top of my watch list, even if they should be. Although I'll concede that if I take that attitude then I really shouldn't have included this in the watch list for this blog. For this film the question should probably read, "why this film?". Well, it's one I've always meant to check out; that mask, although initially ridiculous does haunt you, secondly the idea of setting a horror film almost entirely amongst suzuki grass just seemed like a no-brainer.


And?
Its a disservice to advertise this film as a horror film; despite the iconography surrounding it I feel that this isn't meant to be scary. For one thing, throughout the entire film, we're fully aware of who is wearing the mask and why, this renders any scene featuring the mask ineffective as a device for scaring the viewer - something the filmmakers would have been very much aware of. And before you jump in with your protestations of Halloween, I hasten to point out that we spend a good hour in the company of the character who dons the mask before she dons it. We know she's no Mike Myers.

So, if it's not a horror film then what is it? Its not a comparison I initially thought about when viewing Onibaba but in the days since, its a comparison that has grown. This film is a psychological horror, one not a million miles away from the like of Fight Club (no, seriously). The central message of the film isn't exactly complex or hard to miss, this is a film about  humanity's inherent violent nature when war and suffering strip away civility. Our heroes kill deserting samurai before robbing the corpses whilst the male who returns from war takes approximately six hours to mourn his friend before attempting, successfully I might add, to sleep with his widow.

"I am not a demon! I am a human being!"

What we can be thankful for is that this film was made in 1964 and not 2018. In the world in which this film was made, we're not twenty-years on from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Whilst the colourised horrors of war had only just begun to come into living rooms thanks to the war in Vietnam; no-one has yet had time to try and numb themselves to something that will become a television staple. As such, despite wearing its theme on its sleeve, there's no attempt to rationalise or justify the actions of the individuals involved. Everyone and everything is a mass of contradictions, strip away civility and suddenly everyone is a much a hero as they are a villain. Also, it also turns out that when you strip away civility, no-one will bat an eyelid if you walk around with a boob hanging out, so there's that too.


Will You Be Watching It Again?
I wouldn't not watch it again.


Has Any Light Been Shone on Some Heretofore Unknown Bit of Pop Culture?
Nope, but I have been given a cracking Halloween costume idea.