Demon Pond
![Demon Pond](https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/79219d70aefc6c5c36091b522298b120/YEklB8Asaa5odZKbP7JMSdaHL9z5IG_large.jpg)
Japanese New Wave renegade Masahiro Shinoda transforms a classic Kabuki tale with his own extravagant visual style in this dimension-shattering folk-horror fantasia. When a lone traveler (Tsutomu Yamazaki) stumbles upon a remote, drought-stricken village, he finds himself engulfed in a whirlpool of myth, mystery, and magic: in a nearby pond reside spirits who hold the fate of the town’s inhabitants—including lovers Akira (Go Kato) and Yuri (Kabuki legend Tamasaburo Bando, who also plays the ethereal princess reigning over the water)—in their hands. Set to the swirling strains of electronic-music pioneer Isao Tomita’s synth score, Demon Pond blends theatrical artifice with cinematic surrealism for an aquatic-apocalyptic fable of human love and folly caught in the current of nature’s wrath.
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Masahiro Shinoda and actor Tamasaburo Bando, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- New interview with film scholar Dudley Andrew
- Program on the film’s special effects
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Atkinson
New illustration by Yuko Shimizu
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Masahiro Shinoda and actor Tamasaburo Bando, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- New interview with film scholar Dudley Andrew
- Program on the film’s special effects
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Atkinson
New illustration by Yuko Shimizu
![Demon Pond](https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/79219d70aefc6c5c36091b522298b120/YEklB8Asaa5odZKbP7JMSdaHL9z5IG_large.jpg)
Cast
- Tamasaburo Bando
- Yuri/Yuki, the dragon princess
- Go Kato
- Akira Hagiwara
- Tsutomu Yamazaki
- Gakuen Yamasawa
- Koji Nanbara
- Priest Shikami
- Yatsuko Tanami
- Nurse
- Norihei Miki
- Catfish messenger
- Fujio Tokita
- Crab
- Hisashi Igawa
- Carp
- Jun Hamamura
- Yatabei, the bell keeper
- Megumi Ishii
- Camellia
- Juro Kara
- Denkichi
- Toru Abe
- Village leader
- Shigeru Yazaki
- Village teacher
- Hatsuo Yamaya
- The villager Yoju
Credits
- Director
- Masahiro Shinoda
- Original story by
- Kyoka Izumi
- Screenplay by
- Haruhiko Mimura
- Screenplay by
- Tsutomu Tamura
- Cinematography by
- Masao Kosugi
- Cinematography by
- Noritaka Sakamoto
- Editing by
- Zen Ikeda
- Editing by
- Noritaka Sakamoto
- Art direction by
- Setsu Asakura
- Art direction by
- Kiyoshi Awazu
- Art direction by
- Yutaka Yokoyama
- Music by
- Isao Tomita
- Special effects by
- Nobuo Yajima
A scene from Demon Pond
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