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A stranger appears in a drought stricken area His appearance is greeted with mysterious suspicion. He arrives deep in the mountains and encounters a beautiful woman He notices that the river flows and she explains that its source is the Demon Pond.
Eventually he discovers that the woman's husband is a former friend who disappeared years earlier. At length he is taken to the Demon Pond and as night descends, the film shifts
it mood: goblins assemble, a catfish
appears with a crab - a new world within the Demon Pond materializes, led by Princess Shirayuki, the incarnation of the Dragon God.
This strange and exotic film, a reprise of the classic Japanese tales of ghostly wonder, involved a big budget and top stars. A Japanese paper described it as "probably the first time in Japanese film history for the world of legends to be taken up with such
seriousness. It is a revolt against the logic of science fiction. In any case, it departs from mundane affairs and provides dreamy entertainment. It is a courageous project and director Masahiro Shinoda opened up an
entirely new page.”
This is also a story accessible to
western audiences, following a straightforward narrative line and making clear its moments of fantasy. Although it has had only infrequent exposure so far, some notice has already been accorded the film.
“it's an eerily wonderful work in the genre of Miziguchi's Ugestsu and Kobayashi's Kwaidan, returning to the stylized conventions of the supernatural tale...”
Rob Baker Soho Weekly News
One note that might escape western viewers: both female parts are played by the extraordinary Kabuki actor, Tamasaburo Bando, foremost of today's onnagata, actors who specialize in female roles.