Belladonna of Sadness

Belladonna of Sadness (Japanese: 哀しみのベラドンナ, Hepburn: Kanashimi no Beradonna) is a 1973 Japanese adult animated drama film produced by the animation studio Mushi Production and distributed by Nippon Herald Films. It is the third and final entry in Mushi Production's adult-oriented Animerama trilogy, following A Thousand and One Nights (1969) and Cleopatra (1970). It follows the story of Jeanne, a peasant woman who makes a faustian deal with the devil after she is raped by the local nobility on the night of her wedding.

Although its initial release was a commercial failure and caused the studio to go bankrupt, the film was considered a cult film in retrospective years. It is notable for its erotic, religious, violent, and psychedelic imagery, with its tackling themes of misogyny, feudal oppression, moral depravity, rebellion, and witch-hunting.