The seismic, tsunamic and nuclear events that transpired in Japan in March 2011 have served to demonstrate quite dramatically that sometimes, life on Earth can be a living hell. For a glimpse at a more traditional Japanese vision of Hades, though, one need look no further than Nobuo Nakagawa's 1960 film "Jigoku" (or, "hell"), a picture whose reputation seems to be on the rise lately, thanks in part to this great-looking Criterion DVD. I had only seen one of Nakagawa's 96 other films before taking in "Jigoku," and that was 1968's "Snake Woman's Curse," a well-done if lighthearted tale of ghostly vengeance told in the EC Comics manner. "Jigoku" is a whole different kettle of fugu, and easily the more impressive picture. In it, we meet a young student named Shiro, played by the handsome and very likable Shigeru Amachi. Newly engaged, his life takes a decisive turn when he is involved in a hit-and-run accident one night, and is unable to convince his demonic acquaintance, Tamura (Yoichi Numata)--the actual driver of the car--to report the incident. Before long, every person in Shiro's life begins to meet an early demise, in advance of the journey to the realm down under (and no, I don't mean Australia!).
"Jigoku," though over 50 years old now, feels surprisingly modern, with great use of color and a strong emphasis on jazz, drugs and femme fatales. The film's first 1/3, the Tokyo segment, could almost be a Japanese noir, with its yakuza and nightclub elements. The central section slows down a bit, as Shiro goes to his parents' old-age home in the country. But even during this slow stretch, Nakagawa manages to hold our interest with some surprising bursts of violence and the utilization of moody lighting and bizarre camera angles. The film's final 1/3, however, is something else again, when virtually every character in the film is judged and suffers all the myriad torments and tortures in hell. In this segment, the patient horror buff is treated to numerous fire pits, skewerings, a severing of hands, flayings, eye gouging, the shattering of teeth, a lake of blood, cesspool fountains, a vortex of massed sufferers and on and on; truly, a hellacious environment, made even more memorable via the film's use of expressionistic sets. Do all the film's characters deserve such a horrible end? Hell, no! Shiro's only sin seems to be that he is a victim of fateful happenstance, and his fiancée's, some mere premarital sex. Enma, the so-called King of Hell here, can be SO strict! Regardless, this is some pretty impressive work. From its opening dirge regarding the briefness of man's stay on Earth to its closing image of "lotus blossom purification," "Jigoku" is a film that should keep all potential sinners on the straight and narrow....
"Jigoku," though over 50 years old now, feels surprisingly modern, with great use of color and a strong emphasis on jazz, drugs and femme fatales. The film's first 1/3, the Tokyo segment, could almost be a Japanese noir, with its yakuza and nightclub elements. The central section slows down a bit, as Shiro goes to his parents' old-age home in the country. But even during this slow stretch, Nakagawa manages to hold our interest with some surprising bursts of violence and the utilization of moody lighting and bizarre camera angles. The film's final 1/3, however, is something else again, when virtually every character in the film is judged and suffers all the myriad torments and tortures in hell. In this segment, the patient horror buff is treated to numerous fire pits, skewerings, a severing of hands, flayings, eye gouging, the shattering of teeth, a lake of blood, cesspool fountains, a vortex of massed sufferers and on and on; truly, a hellacious environment, made even more memorable via the film's use of expressionistic sets. Do all the film's characters deserve such a horrible end? Hell, no! Shiro's only sin seems to be that he is a victim of fateful happenstance, and his fiancée's, some mere premarital sex. Enma, the so-called King of Hell here, can be SO strict! Regardless, this is some pretty impressive work. From its opening dirge regarding the briefness of man's stay on Earth to its closing image of "lotus blossom purification," "Jigoku" is a film that should keep all potential sinners on the straight and narrow....