The wild and disorderly inhabitant of the mind known as Obsession is the sole antagonist in this chilling and unforgettable tale by the legendary Japanese New Wave director Masahiro Shinoda. When putting this film into perspective one might associate its lucid, fable-esque qualities with that of Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan or perhaps liken its ethereal romance to Kenji Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu. Though both Japanese classics, I’m sure, were influential on Shinoda during the production of Under The Blossoming Cherry Trees, only by unraveling the latter’s singular form of expressionistic terror does one begin to appreciate it as an irreplaceable revelation in its own right.
This is Shinoda's one and only horror film. His approach to the genre is similar to that of Ingmar Bergman and his experimental horror film Hour of the Wolf. Both favored psychological perversion over jump scares, bloodletting and other mere conventional tropes of the horror brand. Both examined with gut-wrenching vitality the pervading and conquering facets of human emotion.
A mountain-man becomes consumed by a sexually driven desire to please a beautiful woman whom he falls in love with after a bizarre encounter in the forest. She offers herself in exchange for his full commitment to her well being. Her first proposal of accommodation stems out of heartless jealousy. She commands him to kill his many brides whom he keeps as lovers and without hesitation he complies— leaving one alive, as she commanded, to serve as her maid. After the deed is done the grim aftermath is hardly reflected upon—a paradigm of the films unflinching concern with the grotesque and the macabre. The first examination of manic delusion experienced by both the mountain man and the woman is exemplified in this chaotic scene.
This is Shinoda's one and only horror film. His approach to the genre is similar to that of Ingmar Bergman and his experimental horror film Hour of the Wolf. Both favored psychological perversion over jump scares, bloodletting and other mere conventional tropes of the horror brand. Both examined with gut-wrenching vitality the pervading and conquering facets of human emotion.
A mountain-man becomes consumed by a sexually driven desire to please a beautiful woman whom he falls in love with after a bizarre encounter in the forest. She offers herself in exchange for his full commitment to her well being. Her first proposal of accommodation stems out of heartless jealousy. She commands him to kill his many brides whom he keeps as lovers and without hesitation he complies— leaving one alive, as she commanded, to serve as her maid. After the deed is done the grim aftermath is hardly reflected upon—a paradigm of the films unflinching concern with the grotesque and the macabre. The first examination of manic delusion experienced by both the mountain man and the woman is exemplified in this chaotic scene.
The woman’s self-pity is unrivaled. Her apparent “sacredness” is the driving force behind the mountain man’s unapologetic devotion to her comfort and happiness despite his suffering. The act of murdering for love parallels a sort of flattery, albeit demonic, which the woman feels she is entitled to. She not only enjoys this adulation but develops a literal connection to the heads of the murdered victims. As a master puppeteer personifies a soul inside the marionette, the woman confidently embodies her emotional enthusiasm within the severed heads of the dead. The mountain man is given the order to execute and decapitate many travelers during the course of their stay in the forest in order to keep her satisfied and to repay her for leaving a life of elegance to live with a mountain man.
During one such occasion a group of monks are seen traversing a road under a cherry tree forest. The trees themselves, forewarned by an earlier scene of the film, are presumed to be magical. In fact they are deadly. Knowing this, the mountain man stays at a safe distance and watches as the trees infect their guests. A terrifying yet beautiful sequence of delirium unfolds.
Much of the film is formed by the dramatic nature of the narrative and the insistency of the diabolical woman. In the end it is the blossoming cherry trees that capture the unique spirit of the film in a thrillingly horrific finale that will leave you grasping for air. Don’t go under the trees!
During one such occasion a group of monks are seen traversing a road under a cherry tree forest. The trees themselves, forewarned by an earlier scene of the film, are presumed to be magical. In fact they are deadly. Knowing this, the mountain man stays at a safe distance and watches as the trees infect their guests. A terrifying yet beautiful sequence of delirium unfolds.
Much of the film is formed by the dramatic nature of the narrative and the insistency of the diabolical woman. In the end it is the blossoming cherry trees that capture the unique spirit of the film in a thrillingly horrific finale that will leave you grasping for air. Don’t go under the trees!