Director: Masahiro Shinoda
Country: Japan
Award: none
Movement: Japanese New Wave
Demon Pond is a 1979 Japanese romantic fantasy film directed by Masahiro Shinoda. It is an adaptation of the 1913 play of the same name by Izumi Kyōka, with an adapted screenplay written by Haruhiko Mimura and Tsutomu Tamura. The film stars Tsutomu Yamazaki, Go Kato, and Kabuki actor Tamasaburo Bando. Wandering through the countryside, a schoolteacher, Gakuen Yamasawa, arrives at a village suffering from severe drought. There, he discovers his long-lost friend, Akira, who is now married to Yuri, a rumored sorceress whose fate is intertwined with a bell that must be rung each day to appease a nearby lake's dragon god—otherwise, an apocalyptic flood will be unleashed upon the region. Desperate for water, the foolish villagers plan to sacrifice Yuri to the dragon. Meanwhile, a host of pond spirits, led by the lovesick Princess Shirayuki, debate whether they should save the humans from their doom, or allow the princess to see her lover, Kengamine. The villagers break into Yuri's home, intending to sacrifice her on the back of an ox. Akira and Gakuen return and try to convince the mob to spare Yuri, but the village leaders, including the Diet Member, refuse to listen. During the confrontation, Yuri commits suicide by stabbing herself with a sickle. Akira decides not to ring the bell and unleashes the flood, which destroys the village. He then commits suicide with the sickle. Gakuen survives by tying himself to a pillar of the belfry, while the corrupt village leaders drown in the flood. Princess Shirayuki, finally able to freely visit her lover, rises from the water with the other pond spirits and disappears into the sky.
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