Films that create their own world: Onibaba

Japanese b/w classic from 1964 "Onibaba" (director: Shindo) isn't exactly a horror film - and certainly not of the Japanese export horror films of the 50s e.g. Rodin, Godzilla - but it's about as scary and horrific as any film you're likely to see - scene by scene could be one of the most visually striking films of all time, though it's kept from true greatness by the kind of thin plot and the clumsy acting - could have really benefited from Mifune in the male lead role. Still, it's a film with a style and atmosphere all its own. Simply put, movie set in Japanese feudal era, two rival emperors apparently at war, which has thrown the whole land into poverty and drawn almost all young men into the war, through forced conscription, on one side or another - entire movie takes place in on a grassy plain, with sawgrass constantly swaying, taller than any of the people - often we see only forms of people passing through the grasses or wind stirring the tops of the grass. At center of film, two women, mother and her daughter-in-law, the son gone off to war; in fabulous opening scene they chase two wounded samauri soldiers through the grasses, at last pounce on them in surprise and slay them with a few slashes of blades, then the cut off all their armor and dispose of the bodies down a deep hole. They take armor to an old man in a rough and trade for a small amount of millet - he's obviously cheating them, but he complains that it's tough to find a market; he propositions the younger woman. Eventually, a soldier shows up at the grass hut where the two women live and reports that the son/husband is dead; the soldier pursues the daughter/widow and they begin a rather torrid relationship - to the mother-in-law's anger and jealousy, as she tries in various ways to break up their relationship - attempts that end badly for all. Count among the amazing scenes in this movie: the appearance of a masked samurai at the women's hut; the mother-in-law's descent into the hole to recover the samurai's armor and mask; the mother-in-law haunting the young woman; and most distressing of all, the mother-in-law wearing the samurai mask. Won't give more than that away. Though Onibaba (it means The Demon Woman) isn't quite a great film, very few films succeed so well at creating a landscape and environment that is credible, consistent, vivid, striking, and entirely unique: possible comparisons?: Search for Fire, The Fast Runner, and The Seventh Seal - pretty good company.