Jigokuhen (1969) User Reviews

An Interesting Story Of Pride And Sacrifice...

[EVOL666 · 8/10 · 25 March 2006]

I knew nothing about PORTRAIT OF HELL when I gave it a shot, and I'm glad of that now. An interesting tale of the consequences of greed, pride, stubbornness, and racism - all told through the story of an artist and an emperor. The story takes place at a time in feudal Japan where the aristocrats and rulers were rich, but the local people were starving in the streets. This "feast-or-famine" society is the backdrop for the film...

Yoshihide is the most talented artist in the area. He's also a stubborn hard-ass who has nothing but contempt for the local ruler - but realizes that he is under his command and thus stays in his "place" for the most part. The Paramount Lord is a greedy and self-centered bastard who thinks he is Gods gift to the world, literally - but understands Yoshihide's talent, and thus let's him get away with a little more than the average citizen. In a strange way, the two have a begrudging "respect" for each other, though they really hate each other's guts. Yoshihide runs off his daughters boyfriend, and during a chance encounter, the Paramount Lord meets her and makes her his concubine. This of course does not sit well with Yoshihide, who begs the Lord for his daughter back. The Lord refuses - unless Yoshihide can paint a suitable mural for his mansion. The Lord wants a portrait of heaven and paradise - whereas Yoshihide wishes to paint a hell-scene, as he is downtrodden by the treatment of the local people. The Lord eventually grants Yoshihide the opportunity to paint whatever he would like, but as the two do battle through words and trickery - the price that either may end up paying may far outweigh the saving of their pride...

PORTRAIT OF HELL is a strong film that deals effectively with several subjects at once. Both Yoshihide's and the Paramount Lord's pride and stubbornness ultimately become their downfall - which has always been a fitting lesson. The side-story of Yoshihide's refusal for his daughter to date a non-Korean boy, and the results thereof, is a brief touch on the consequences of racism. But even with all the "moral-of-the-story" type things going on in the film, it never becomes overbearing. PORTRAIT OF HELL is still an entertaining film with a strong "twist" ending that brings everything home. Overall, I would recommend this film to fans of "classic" Asian cinema or those who would just like a break from the norm. Also of note are the beautiful sets, very good acting, and some very decent visual FX for the time-frame. Definitely worth a look - 8.5/10

Effective drama/horror film

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 7/10 · 29 September 2021]

Really hard to find but ultimately quite good Japanese movie that's a cross between a period drama and a horror film. Its premise is simple, but mostly works, and it has a great sense of atmosphere that proves to be really immersive in certain sequences.

I would say that after a strong opening (and before a very good final act), it does meander a bit at times. It's not surprising that it was based on a short story, because the narrative is stretched a little thin, even at only 95 minutes. There are also some very bold colour filters that sometimes work and sometimes don't, and I felt that way about some other stylistic features, too (there's some really crazy audio in here at certain points).

Acting is strong across the board, the climax is great, and the film has plenty of great visuals. The shortcomings don't hinder this too much, and overall it's a very well made film. It's probably more of a 7.5 than a 7, but not sure I can quite get it to an 8.

Ritualized drama

[ace-150 · 7/10 · 1 March 2022]

There are a lot of reviews calling out the over the top performances, but it seems strongly inspired by ritualized drama forms like Kabuki and Noh. Just look at the Paramount Lord's eyebrows! It's just really traditionally stagey. What I found weirder is that the 'good guy' is much worse than the 'bad guy'. The scene with the snakes, let alone the business with the daughter, the artist is just horrrrrible.

You just know Tatsuya Nakadai's face is gonna be a mask of despair by the end.

[chaos-rampant · 21 October 2009]

No one does 'descent into madness and despair' better than Tatsuya Nakadai. And when it comes to theatrical lighting, expansive settings, and slow-fi supernatural poetics, no one does them better than the Japanese, who had the benefit of a few centuries of kabuki experience before Mario Bava and Roger Corman got there with their cobwebs and color filters. All the elements are in place then and Shiro Toyoda delivers with utmost impunity. In part a not-so-distant cousin of the kaidan genre of spooky ghost stories that proliferated all through the first half of the 60's in Japan, complete with deformed ghostly apparitions that come and go as they please, yet also a bit of a prestige film that can afford beauty for beauty's sake without having to cram plot points in the short running time of a second-bill film, this reflected in the stars of the film (Tatsuya Nakadai and Kinnosuke Nakamura) and the lush sets Toho Studios put in Toyoda's disposal, the vivid colors and accomplished camera-work that suggest a director more talented than his nonexistent reputation in the West implies, all these elements coming together to create a dramatically unsubtle, not really horrifying but tragic and macabre, parable on the unyielding monomania of a perfectionist. A Korean painter is summoned by his Japanese lord to paint a portrait of Buddhist heaven. The Japanese lord becomes smitten by the painter's daughter and takes her for his concubine. The Korean painter pleads for his daughter, this coming across as more the whim of a possessive father than genuine love. Finally he settles for painting a portrait of hell. You just know Tatsuya Nakadai's face is gonna be a mask of utter despair and torment by the end and it's worth the ride getting there because the conclusion is truly ferocious.

kwaidan influenced story of racism and pride

[AkuSokuZan · 9/10 · 21 August 2001]

This filmed theatrical performance centers on the tension between a Japanese ruler and a Korean artist. The ruler a Buddhist who considers himself a living Buddha amidst the suffering of his people brought on by his indifference, the artist a Confucian whose pride has been trampled on so many times he comes to hate even his innocent Japanese student who courts his daughter. One of the many themes in this carefully told story includes the idea of individuality portrayed by a political rebel sporting an ogre's mask. The rebel and the Japanese art student, fueled by their individual power, storm the castle of the corrupt lord like demon's of hell. Although the wheel of karma turns, symbolized by the wheels on the lavish royal carriage, their is always personal choice. The artist chose to imprison his daughter,Yoshika, drive away his foreign protege, and dared the lord to burn the carriage holding his girl. The lord chose, to indulge in an egocentric project to have a painting of himself as an enlightened being, verbally and physically abusing the genius painter, ignore the Korean king's call for help during an invasion, hold the innocent daughter of the artist, and ordered the slaughter of Korean immigrant's as they tried to go home. We, the audience hope for a glance at the evolving masterpiece the artist is working on. The painting is at first inspired the the fear of a chained little boy who squirms at the sight of approaching snakes. Finally, the artist (Tatsuya Nakadai) realizes that the torment of damnation is within himself this whole time. The flames in the movie seem to melt the screen and the haunting flute song becomes the soul of this tragedy. All the actors and actresses perform this tale in a very traditional, super dramatic way. Every time the artist begs for the return of his daughter from the lord you can't help but feel heart broken. The film is a real treasure but slightly flawed due to the innapropriate soundtrak which would be more appropriate for a western epic. Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan clearly contributed to this film's lush and hyper real colors, textures and images. Do anything you can to view this work.

The title says it all

[ChungMo · 9/10 · 12 May 2006]

A title that the film delivers the goods. Not the Hell of western imagination but the Hell of Buddhist thought. This is a tough film that really stick in the mind long after it's over.

Nakadai plays a Korean court artist to a ridiculous Japanese Lord who is blind to the growing poverty of his domain. The Lord wants a mural of Buddhist paradise but the artist doesn't know what that looks like. He can only paint death and misery. The artist himself is no great example of humanity as he's a full blown bigot. Caught in the middle is the artist's daughter and her innocent Japanese lover.

This film would not be possible without Nakadai who uses his ability to portray deep despair to it's fullest here. At points he looks like his character in "Ran" almost exactly. The points covered here include vanity, racism, pride, and other human traits that create a hell on earth. There's no happy ending here so be warned.

Wonderful sets and a theatrical style of lighting create an atmosphere unlike most other films. Recommended

Way over the top melodrama

[barkingechoacrosswaves · 3/10 · 30 June 2008]

Let me start off by saying I love Japanese cinema, literature and culture generally. I've seen many Japanese movies and enjoyed them, but "Portrait of Hell" (aka Jigokuhen) makes itself ridiculous. The two characters who dominate the action -- the "evil lord" in his privileged bubble and the "stubborn, crazy artist" are pure types with zero subtlety or nuance, and all their actions emanate from cartoonish extremes. The film wants to show horrible scenes of violence and raw emotion but many of these scenes are so over the top they actually become laughable and the overall feeling is that of a made-for-TV movie that went off the rails. If this rarely screened movie falls in your hands or comes to your town, spare yourself and give it a pass.

A haunting story of the pride of an artist and hubris of the powerfull

[fuyuno · 19 August 1999]

19 years after Kurosawa's "Rashomon" a very different director took another story by the inimitable writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa and adopted it for a movie. "Jigokuhen" is a more complicated tale than even "Rashomon" and consequently must have been more difficult to film. @

Be warned that I am giving away the story.@

This is a story of a medieval painter (Nakadai) commissioned to paint the portrait of paradise on the wall of a palace of Lord Hosokawa (Yorozuya) the most powerful aristocrat of the time. (He is powerful enough to name the next emperor.) The nobleman wants the mural to demonstrate the glory of his power. The artist, who unlike the aristocrat sees the squalor of the world just outside of the palace, refuses. He would rather paint a portrait of hell. Confronted by the only man who would dare contradict him, the arrogant nobleman challenges the artist to paint a portrait of hell, on the strength of which he will decide whether paradise or inferno will be painted on his palace walls. The painter is the sort of genius-madman who would cut off his ears to paint a better self-portrait. Obsessed with his art, he goes to great extremes, such as actually torturing his apprentices to capture the expression of agony. In the end, even that is not enough. He wants the nobleman's gold-plated carriage set on fire so he can see what the fate of vanity in hell really looks like. The carriage is a symbol of the nobleman's power and position, but he cannot refuse because he is too proud to backtrack on his promise to provide anything the painter needed. The aristocrat instead puts the painter's daughter (whom he has taken under some pretence as his sex slave) bound in chains inside the vehicle and proceeds to have the carriage dowsed in oil. Then he hands a torch to painter and dares him to set the carriage on fire. The aristocrat is triumphant for only a few seconds. As she burns to her death, the daughter screams "I knew it would end this way!" Some time later, a finished portrait of hell is delivered to the palace. The painter commits suicide the same day and the nobleman, haunted by the ghost of the painter, is driven to madness. Only the brilliant artwork, a picture of hell, remains.

This is a treatise on the nature of art and the conflict between the artist and the patron. It is also a story about the pride of an obsessed artist and the hubris of the man who thinks he owns him. A very complicated tale.

The movie gets sidetracked by an unnecessary sub-plot involving rebels. Also the prolonged wandering of the painter through famine-ravaged Kyoto could be rather dull if you did not understand that much of the pantomime represent other stories by Akutagawa set in the same period (including Rashomon).Otherwise, this is a great movie and a rich experience to watch.

One pet theory of mine is that the garish colors of the films of the 50's and 60's actually helped Japanese cinema. The Caucasian woman is the most beautiful kind of human in a black-and-white movie, which probably helped consolidate their position as the epitome of human beauty. The Japanese, strangely, look very good in the hues of early Technicolor. It may have contributed to the popularity of Japanese films of the era. You will see what I mean when you see this exceptionally beautiful movie.

Nakadai Shrinks

[frankgaipa · 7 September 2002]

Though I've seen most of his older stuff, my current impression of Tatsuya Nakadai derives from "Ran," "Kagemusha," and an appearance at Berkeley's PFA. At the latter, he appeared, as Japanese can, stiffly polite, a bit broader of chest than I would have expected, though age brings that, and at least, I think, average height, in an immaculate gray suit. His fluidity of movement in the 1969 "Jigokuhen" startles me even against the early samurai roles. While Kinnosuke Nakamura, playing Lord Hosokawa, embodies in every movement the calm attached to his character's status, Nakadai's never still. Nakamura looms, of course in court, but no less so crouched over Yoshihide's daughter or alone, pacing. Nakadai leans, bobs, treads air, seldom or never freezes. Even in the presence of court women, of anyone but his daughter or her suitor, he seems always the shortest person on screen. Think of Jean-Louis Barrault in Jean Renoir's Jeckle/Hyde film "Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier." As the doctor, Barrault's his true height. As Opale (Hyde) he's a foot shorter. The transformation happens before your eyes, with no special effect, and is absolutely believable. Nakadai here rivals that feat.

If "Jigokuhen" were a better film than I think it probably is, I'd elaborate the irony of the Yoshihide's groveling against the Lord's serenity. More startling though, is Yoshihide's lack of humor, against the Lord's embodiment of it. Indeed Lord Hosokawa's the only one in the film to joke, and keeps trying nearly to the end. Yet another case- Milton's Satan certainly wasn't the first-of the bad guy getting most the good lines.

Perhaps more suited for the stage

[ronchow · 5 July 2012]

I stumbled upon this film in my search for more films in the Kwaidan genre. The DVD quality was OK but after viewing the film, I kind of understand why it was not more popular as a film, although it also came from the same time period when ghost stories - Kwaidan, Strange Tales from the Four Valleys - basically introduced me to the joy of Japanese cinema in my younger years.

It is nutshell, it was a slow and tedious film without a character that you would care about. Well, perhaps except the daughter of the protagonist, played by Tatsuya Nakadai. He was one of my favourite Japanese actor from the past and his acting here was fairly solid. Still, it did not compensate enough for the pace and dullness of the story line.

Perhaps this story is more suited for a stage play. For cinema, much is lacking to make the film engaging to its audience.