{"id":3033,"date":"2007-04-25T09:58:48","date_gmt":"2007-04-25T16:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3033"},"modified":"2021-02-01T13:20:13","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T20:20:13","slug":"demon-pond-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3033","title":{"rendered":"Demon Pond (1979)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;There&#8217;s a firm covenant: as long as this bell is rung three times a day, the village is safe. The princess is bound by it.&#8221;<\/strong> <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Poster-211x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"211\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-30833\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Poster-211x300.jpg 211w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Poster-90x128.jpg 90w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Poster.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 211px) 100vw, 211px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA teacher (Gakuen Yamasawa) traveling through a drought-ridden Japanese village meets a long-lost friend (Akira Hagiwara) who has remained in the town both because of his marriage to a beautiful local woman (Tamasaburo Bando), and because of his promise to uphold a superstitious legend: he must ring a bell three times a day in order to prevent the nearby pond&#8217;s Dragon God (also Bando) from flooding the town.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fantasy<\/li>\n<li>Folk Tales, Fairy Tales, and Mythology<\/li>\n<li>Japanese Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis unusual movie by director Masahiro Shinoda (<em>Double Suicide<\/em>, 1969) is unlike any other fantasy film you&#8217;ve ever seen. Buoyed by Isao Tomita&#8217;s synthesized score (which draws heavily upon classical Western music themes &#8212; most notably, and appropriately, Debussy&#8217;s &#8220;The Sunken Cathedral&#8221;), the film immediately evokes an atmosphere of mystery, magic, and potential harm. Kabuki actor Tamasaburo Bando is wonderful in dual roles as both a village woman (Yuri) and a sympathetic demon (Princess Shirayuki) longing to join her lover in another pond; you would never guess these characters were played by a man. My main complaint about the film is that the scenes with the pond creatures are over too quickly: since the bulk of the narrative centers on the villagers, we ultimately learn far too little about Shirayuki and her coterie. A more balanced screenplay would have elevated this unusual, visually stunning film even a notch higher. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tamasaburo Bando as both Yuri and Princess Shirayuki<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Bando1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Bando1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-67740\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Bando1.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Bando1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Bando1-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Bando1-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Haunting visuals<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Imagery.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Imagery.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-67739\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Imagery.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Imagery-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Imagery-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Imagery-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The colorful, enormously creative costumes and make-up of the pond creatures<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Costumes.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Costumes.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-67741\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Costumes.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Costumes-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Costumes-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/Demon-Pond-Costumes-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Isao Tomita&#8217;s score<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes; it&#8217;s unlike any other fantasy film I&#8217;ve ever seen. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Foreign Gem<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0079041\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1982\/07\/21\/movies\/tamasaburo-stars-in-japan-s-demon-pond.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/fantasy\/demon-pond-1979.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a firm covenant: as long as this bell is rung three times a day, the village is safe. The princess is bound by it.&#8221; Synopsis: A teacher (Gakuen Yamasawa) traveling through a drought-ridden Japanese village meets a long-lost friend (Akira Hagiwara) who has remained in the town both because of his marriage to a beautiful local woman (Tamasaburo Bando), and because of his promise to uphold a superstitious legend: he must ring a bell three times a day in&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3033\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3033"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67742,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3033\/revisions\/67742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}