Anima and animus in cinema: Archetypes of the Japanese soul by Kaneto Shindo

This thesis explores the cinema of Japanese director Kaneto Shindō through the lens of Carl Gustav Jung's analytical psychology, focusing specifically on the archetypes of anima and animus. Titled "Anima and Animus in the Cinema of Kaneto Shindō: Archetypes of the Japanese Soul," the study is structured in three main chapters. The first chapter examines traditional belief systems in Japan—particularly Shintoism, Buddhism, and folk practices—to uncover the structural foundations of the Japanese cultural unconscious. The second chapter delves into Jung's theory of archetypes, the concept of the collective unconscious, and the psychological significance of the anima and animus archetypes. The third and final chapter analyzes Shindō's films Onibaba (1964) and Kuroneko (1968) within the context of Jungian psychology. This analysis focuses on how female characters in these films represent both individual and collective dimensions of the anima and animus. The thesis ultimately aims to reveal how Japanese cultural identity is reflected in cinema and how Shindō's works synthesize traditional beliefs with archetypal representations.