Les Diaboliques
Une histoire de la belladone et de la mandragore Série-Collection : Des plantes et des hommes : une histoire des médicaments

Christian Riberzani
1993 - 26 min - Betacam SP - Couleur - France

Mandragore, belladonna, henbiane (hyoscyamus) and thorn apple (datura).
Four plants with multiple facets, they are magical, hallucinatory, medical and poison plants, all the same time. This is not only because they all belong to the same botanical family, the nightshade family, but because their effects are the same and also the rites and beliefs attached to them.
As today their medical use is rather limited, this film concentrates chiefly on these myths and beliefs and also the cheats and deceptions which were the inevitable consequence of the important place these sacred plants in the different societies of that time.