Demon Pond (1979)
November 16, 2024 9:48 AM - Subscribe
Japanese New Wave renegade Masahiro Shinoda transforms a classic Kabuki tale with his own extravagant visual style in this dimension-shattering folk-horror fantasia. When a lone traveler (Tsutomu Yamazaki) stumbles upon a remote, drought-stricken village, he finds himself engulfed in a whirlpool of myth, mystery, and magic: in a nearby pond reside spirits who hold the fate of the town’s inhabitants—including lovers Akira (Go Kato) and Yuri (Kabuki legend Tamasaburo Bando; he also plays the ethereal princess reigning over the water)—in their hands. Set to the swirling strains of electronic-music pioneer Isao Tomita’s synth score, Demon Pond blends theatrical artifice with cinematic surrealism for an aquatic-apocalyptic fable of human love and folly caught in the current of nature’s wrath.
Directed by Masahiro Shinoda. Written by Haruhiko Mimura, Tsutomu Tamura. Based on the 1913 play Demon Pond by Izumi Kyōka. Cinematography by Masao Kosugi, Noritaka Sakamoto. Edited by Zen Ikeda, Noritaka Sakamoto. Music by Isao Tomita.
Currently available to rent from Apple TV and Amazon. JustWatch listing. Also recently issued in a new 4K edition from Criterion.
Directed by Masahiro Shinoda. Written by Haruhiko Mimura, Tsutomu Tamura. Based on the 1913 play Demon Pond by Izumi Kyōka. Cinematography by Masao Kosugi, Noritaka Sakamoto. Edited by Zen Ikeda, Noritaka Sakamoto. Music by Isao Tomita.
Currently available to rent from Apple TV and Amazon. JustWatch listing. Also recently issued in a new 4K edition from Criterion.
Whoa! Just read the description. Know nothing of the film maker, but I’ve got to see this, I think. Sounds pretty amazing.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 11:57 AM on November 16
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 11:57 AM on November 16
I can't find an English trailer that's any good but you get a sense of how this looks from the French trailer.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:20 PM on November 16 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:20 PM on November 16 [1 favorite]
This is... pretty singular.
If you liked this one watch Masahiro Shinoda's (previously) Himiko and Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees, of his films these 2 are the most like Demon Pond. Equally good but different Pale Flower, Double Suicide, Killers on Parade. He is a very underrated filmmaker and needs to be better known outside of specialist communities - when his films are good they are incredible.
The Criterion Channel has a good chunk of his films.
posted by Ashwagandha at 3:00 PM on November 16 [2 favorites]
If you liked this one watch Masahiro Shinoda's (previously) Himiko and Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees, of his films these 2 are the most like Demon Pond. Equally good but different Pale Flower, Double Suicide, Killers on Parade. He is a very underrated filmmaker and needs to be better known outside of specialist communities - when his films are good they are incredible.
The Criterion Channel has a good chunk of his films.
posted by Ashwagandha at 3:00 PM on November 16 [2 favorites]
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A certain amount of theatrical/operatic melodrama hangs over everything, but it's a weird little world, and pretty compelling.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:06 AM on November 16