Short Take: The Bride from Hades

(1968) Directed by Satsuo Yamamoto; Written by Yoshikata Yoda and Enchô San'yûtei; Starring: Kôjirô Hongô, Miyoko Akaza, Kô Nishimura, Mayumi Ogawa, Takashi Shimura, and Michiko Ôtsuka; Available on Blu-ray (included in Daiei Gothic, Volume 1) and DVD

Rating: ****

“I’m being asked to do something immoral, so my family will prosper. If I refuse, they will disown me. Your father was cast out by a capricious lord. Why must we yield to their inhumanity? Abusing their power to get their own way like my father and that lord, I’ve lost all respect for the samurai…” – Shinzaburô Hagiwara (Kôjirô Hongô)

Love, at times, is a fickle, unfathomable beast that can just as surely lead one to contentment as it can end in ruin. According to Emily Dickinson, “The heart wants what it wants, or else it does not care.” Who or why we love reminds us that affairs of the heart have no mathematical formula or logic. The Bride from Hades, a classic tale of love gone awry, was based on the popular 17^th-century Yurei (ghost) story “Botan-dôrô” (or “The Tale of the Peony Lantern”),  

In the opening scene, set on the eve of the Obon Festival (a celebration of the spirits of the beloved who have passed on), Shinzaburô Hagiwara (Kôjirô Hongô) sits with the surviving members of his family of samurai. A year after the death of his older brother, Shinzaburô is offered his deceased brother’s wife. Despite Shinzaburô’s obligation to accept her hand in marriage, he refuses, much to the dismay of his family. That evening, during the village’s celebration, he and the villagers release dozens of floating lanterns in the local pond. When he frees two lanterns that were stuck in the weeds, two women, Otsuyu (Miyoko Akaza) and her servant Oyone (Michiko Ôtsuka), express their appreciation for his kind gesture. We soon learn that Otsuyu, once was a member of a samurai clan, but forced into a life as a concubine. She only has a few days of freedom, during the remaining course of the festival, before she must marry an older man she doesn’t love. Touched by her emotional appeal. Shinzaburô takes pity upon Otsuyu, but all is not as it seems. He soon discovers that both women met an untimely death, presenting him with a difficult decision: choosing between his commitment to the betterment of the village, which will only hasten his estrangement to his family, or his new love for Otsuyu, which means certain death. The villagers rally for his protection, but will it be too late? 

* Fun Fact #1: Although he made a name for himself in Daiei costume dramas, Hongô never aspired to be an actor, preferring the practice of judo.

Kôjirô Hongô does a terrific job as the conflicted young samurai Shinzaburô, who only wants justice in a society that rewards the wealthy and punishes the downtrodden. Unlike the rest of his family, Shinzaburô prefers to live among the poor craftsmen in the village, teaching their children how to read (this is frowned upon by the rest of his family, who think he shouldn’t concern himself with the affairs of people beneath his station). His patience and sympathy is constantly tested by his ne’er-do-well servant, Banzô (Kô Nishimura), who enjoys women and drink more than being a productive member of the community. Nishimura,* who made a career playing characters of questionable morality, provides some much-needed levity to the otherwise somber story as Banzô. Along with his equally scheming wife, Omine (Mayumi Ogawa), Banzô conspires to betray his master for 100 Ryo – his price for helping the ghostly Otsuyu and Oyone gain entry to Shinzaburô’s home, blocked by paper talismans.**   

* Fun Fact #2: Nishimura’s father Makoto was an early pioneer in Japanese robotics, having created an early example, Gakutensoku, in the 1920s. 

** Fun Fact #3: The talismans, known as ofuda, are consecrated slips of paper from Shinto shrines, used to ward off evil spirits or prevent harm.

While The Bride from Hades wasn’t typical fare for the politically charged director Satsuo Yamamoto, the film’s themes of social inequity in a society dictated by rigid class structure shines through. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Chikashi Makiura, with dreamlike art direction by Yoshinobu Nishioka, the film is a delight for the eyes. The story, based on a classic Japanese folk tale, proves the time-worn adage that no good deed goes unpunished (at least in Shinzaburô’s case), and neither the virtuous nor the unscrupulous prevail.

 

Sources for this article: Blu-ray commentary by Jasper Sharp; Yurei Attack: The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide, by Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt