Belladonna of Sadness

Belladonna of Sadness is a Japanese animated film set in a medieval French countryside. Jeanne and Jean are a young peasant couple who seek their lord's permission to marry, but they cannot pay the required fee. The lord exercises his right to the bride's first night, and the couple's lives are destroyed. Cast out by her village, Jeanne turns to the devil, who grants her magical powers in exchange for her soul. She uses them for revenge.

The film was directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, following his earlier Cleopatra: Queen of Sex in 1970. Yoshiyuki Fukuda and Yamamoto wrote the screenplay, and Osamu Tezuka produced it for Mushi Production and Nippon Herald Films. Its voice cast includes Aiko Nagayama as Jeanne, Takao Itō as Jean, Tatsuya Nakadai as the devil, Masaya Takahashi as the lord, Shigako Shimegi as the lord's mistress, and Masakane Yonekura as the priest.

Released in Japan in June 1973, it runs 87 minutes and blends animation, drama and fantasy. It holds a rating of 7.3 out of 10 on IMDb from roughly 9,300 votes and the same score on TMDB from a few hundred votes, while a critics' rating stands at 7.8 out of 10 from 41 reviews. The critical score sits above the audience scores, though the three are close.