MovieChat Forums > Onibaba (1965) Discussion > about the mask?

about the mask?

posted 17 years ago by ezracobb366
9 replies | jump to latest

what was the deal with the mask? was it cursed? I remember the samurai general saying he was the most handsome man in kyoto. Maybe he was. Maybe the mask was a punishment, or maybe it just rips your face off when it gets wet?

[–] supertangman8757 17 years ago

The mask is cursed and the scars are meant to represent the atomic radiation scars that people received during Hiroshima and Nagasaki

[–] McYaballow 16 years ago

That's just one interpretation. I thought the mask was just shrunken by the rain and the material got stuck on the face and it ripped when removed.

That doesn't however explain why the mask got stuck also on the samurai's face, so the curse explanation is valid.

[–] DigOrGetOut 16 years ago

ofcourse it was cursed!!! I really do hope you are not saying that the mask was 'faulty' merchandise!

ha ha....

[–] Maya55555 8 years ago

THE MASK WAS MADE IN CHINA. SORRY caps stuck.

"A stitch in time, saves your embarrassment." (RIP Ms. Penny LoBello)

[–] Kawada_Kira 9 years ago

The mask is cursed and the scars are meant to represent the atomic radiation scars that people received during Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Where in the world did you get that? Nothing in this movie bears any relation whatsoever to the atomic bombings. People were getting burned and otherwise disfigured long before atomic bombs were invented. This story (I mean what the movie is based on, not just the plot/setting of the movie itself) goes much further back than that.

[–] TheManInOil 15 years ago

I'm shocked that people find this confusing. It seemed clear to me that the mask was glued onto the samurai's face. It had to be torn off, which ripped up his flesh. When the woman wore it in the rain, the glue was moistened and became adhesive again, and she went through the same process of tearing flesh in the removal.

Of course, it's all symbolic, and a karmic punishment and all that, but why emphasize the rain unless it mattered that the mask was made wet?

"I'll book you. I'll book you on something. I'll find something in the book to book you on."

[–] cinemajunky 15 years ago

That totally make sense because the samurai wouldn't have wanted it to slip during battle so, of course he would have glued it on somehow. But then, keeping a mask on for a long time would be pretty rough for the skin and, in a time of very poor hygiene, I can't imagine that his face would have come through unaffected. He very well could have been suffering from some disease like a flesh eating bacteria which would have been active on the mask. The woman's body heat combined with the rain could have acted as an adhesive between mask, bacteria, and facial entry point - like a bandage sticking to an open wound.

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[–] denham 13 years ago

I'm inclined to think that, contrary to what he said, the samurai was never beautiful under the mask, but instead wore it to conceal a face which was before the removal much as it was after the removal. If it was the result of a contagious disease this would account for something similar happening to the woman. This is consistent with the mask not coming off easily because of the effect of rain and/or glue, though it could just be because of the nature of the skin disease. Ah yes, or a curse of course.

"I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken."

[–] ibbi 11 years ago

Well, if you're talking in a literal sense, I can't speak for anyone else, but if I took that thing from a guy with a face like that, the last thing I'd do is put it on my face. Whatever he had (leprosy?) was probably contagious, and he passed it on.

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