Belladonna of Sadness (1973)

Chinatsu Nakayama: Narrator

Quotes 

• Jeanne : Get away!

  Jeanne : What do you want from me?

  Devil : This is only the Beginning.

  [the devil laughing] 

  Narrator : Indeed, this was only the beginning of Jeanne's suffering. War broke out. War is expensive. But winning meant more land.

  The Lord : I'm leaving for the front tomorrow, and this is all you collected?

  Jean : Yes... but tomorrow I promise...

  The Lord : Fool! It takes more than a few drops to turn a mill! If you don't get all the money in three days, l'II have you hanged!

  Jean : But your highness... no one has any more money left!

  The Lord : Teach this man to listen to orders. Make is body remember. Chop off his left hand.

• Narrator : Spring came around, even to the desolate wilderness. Suddenly Jeanne discovered that she was not alone. Nature was there.

  Devil : You are beautiful, Jeanne.

  Jeanne : It can't be! I thought I had gone to hell. This is hell? I gave myself to Satan. I should be a wrinkly old witch by now. My hair a tangle of venomous serpents, my skin green like a toad, black flames coursing through my veins! This can't be me. I'm being deceived! I want to become a horrifying woman. I want people to turn away in horror When I pass by in the street. I don't want to forget anger and hatred!

  Devil : Who says anger and hatred are ugly? You have become beautiful, Jeanne... Yes... Like a young girl in love... radiant. You are even more beautiful than God.

• Narrator : Jeanne went to town to sell her thread. The town was starving again that year, but the lord still collected taxes. People were crushed by despair and too weak to cry out. The only one working was Jeanne. The town. Jeanne's thread sold for a good price. No one even wanted to haggle. Jeanne's husband Jean was the only one in the village able to pay the lord's high taxes. Rumors started spreading that Jeanne was possessed by the devil. Delighted that Jean had paid all his taxes, the lord appointed Jean as town tax collector. Before, only a poor peasant, now Jean was an official in a red hat. Jeanne was happy for her husband's success. But Jeanne also noticed that the villagers had changed. Now, they bowed deeply and avoided crossing paths with Jean and Jeanne.

• Narrator : Back in the village, it was another bleak springtime. Jean was back to being an ordinary farmer. Nothing has changed... until a dark shadow crept upon the village. The black death. Infection spelled certain death.

• Narrator : Jeanne put on her green dress and went straight into town. They say green is the color of power, the color of the devil. The greedy old moneylender who had even refused to lend money to the lord took one look at Jeanne and loosened his purse strings. Later he grumbled, "That woman must be possessed by the devil." Men love war in every age. The lord marched off in splendid array with his soldiers and conscripted farmers. Women are always the ones left behind to suffer. The men were gone for a long time. Several years passed. Jeanne had become a moneylender and gained control of the town. People feared and revered Jeanne more than the lord's wife and obeyed her gladly.

  The Lord's Mistress : Who is in charge of this land while his lordship is away? Me or that woman?

  Page : You, of course!

  The Lord's Mistress : I didn't ask you.

  Guard : You're right to be angry, milady... But the war has been prolonged. Without her help, even we wouldn't have enough to eat...

  The Lord's Mistress : Silence! That witch will pay for this.

  Narrator : However, despite his newfound stature, Jean spent his days drinking. Suddenly, the lord returned from the war. Women and men were overjoyed to find each other again. The lady rarely left her castle to avoid seeing Jeanne, but that day, she went to the church on the plaza to greet her husband. Jeanne was there, too.

• [first lines] 

  Narrator : May they live happily ever after. But our story is just beginning.

  The Priest : Your Highness, today your loyal subjects Jean and Jeanne were joined in holy matrimony. Honoring tradition, Jean has come to make an offering to show his gratitude.

  Jean : Your Highness, please accept this money in exchange for Jeanne's hand. We sold our milk cow to get it.

  The Lord : How many milk cows?

  Jean : One. We have only the cow.

  The Lord : Ten cows.

  Guard : Your Highness is ordering you to pay ten cows in tax!

  Jean : What? I beg you... We're too poor to pay ten cows.

  Jeanne : Your ladyship, have pity!

  The Lord's Mistress : Is this child chaste?

  Jean's Dad : I vow on my soul that it was a pure marriage. Jeanne has never done anything unseemly.

  Jean's Mom : Earnest and hard working, the pride and joy of our village.

  The Lord's Mistress : Child, do you love this man?

  Jeanne : Yes, your ladyship!

  The Lord's Mistress : And your her?

  Jean : Yes!

  The Lord's Mistress : Listen everyone, after Milord has had his turn, you're all entitled to this offering!

  [the aristocrats they take out Jean from the castle]