Cast:
Kazuo Hasegawa (Endo Morito), Machiko Kyō (Lady Kesa), Isao Yamagata (Wataru Watanabe), Yatarō Kurokawa (Taira no Shigemori), Kōtarō Bandō (Rokuroh), Jun Tazaki (Kogenta), Koreya Senda (Taira no Kiyomori), and Masao Shimizu (Fujiwara no Nobuyori) Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa (#735 - A Page of Madness)
Review:
Remember Teinosuke Kinugasa? Well, it seemed appropriate to try and remember the man who gave us A Page of Madness (1926; at the time, people thought the movie was lost). Born in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, he went from being an actor (at least until the onnagata of men specializing in female roles became less prevalent) to becoming a director who made over a hundred movies from 1922 to 1966, and one of those movies included Gate of Hell [known in Japan as Jigokumon] for Daiei Film. The 1950s saw the dawn of Japan getting to see feature films in glorious color, at least occasionally. Carmen Comes Home (1951), as released by Shochiku, was the first to set that trend. Daiei Film, a studio formed during World War II, had their key place come early. They were behind the production of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), the first big piece of a great age for Japanese films going beyond its native country. So, what film did Daiei make for its first color of production? Gate of Hell was based off the play Kesa's Husband by author/publisher Kan Kikuchi (coincidence or not, he actually was the first president of the studio*). The script was written by Teinosuke Kinugasa and Masaichi Nagata (the president of Daiei Film), which is generally put in the "jidaigeki" genre (okay that just translates to period dramas before the Meiji Restoration, which in this case is way way back in the 1100s). The movie was done in Eastmancolor (as one does when having imported film stock) and it so happens that you can watch the film in its restored form for quite some time now. In 1954, the movie was awarded two Academy Awards: the "Honorary Foreign Language Film Award" and for Best Costume Design (back in the days of awarding ones for films in color) to go along with the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
For 86 minutes, one does get a wonderfully curious movie to experience in all of the glances possible, which extends beyond the vivid reds and greens that come across the screen. You might call it a polite sort of tragedy in the slow boil that comes through with this movie, one that allows you to peek behind the curtain of what people seemed to look like in the seemingly quaint times and what really lurks beyond pleasantries and appearances. Sure, those first couple of minutes (call it about 20) are probably the most sluggish in terms of setup, but it is generally worth it after that because of what you will see in the aftermath of conflict that merely leads into the seething-type of conflict. Hasegawa was a prolific actor for over 300 movies in his life, and he does pretty well with this role that an actor would love to have play out on the stage in his unnerving conviction that plays out here. It isn't so much that he is playing a villain as much as you are watching a creature wrapped in lust and obsession that might as well fit the title of the film. Sure, you could label him as just an obsessed creep, but you have to understand that his plight is not exactly helped by the people around him (in terms of samurais, remember). Kyō (speaking of prolific actresses, she was in Rashomon) does quite well with showing the terror that comes across in being wrapped in a situation of an unwieldly triangle that isn't really love on all sides and also isn't easy to simply untangle from (in contrast, one sees a calm Yamagata, at least for one living in such polite surroundings involving samurai that isn't just taking up a sword). Wishes to acquire others are thought to be what you might call quaint rather than, well, pick any other word besides "odd", but you do get to see from one person the true meaning of sacrifice. If it wasn't already stressed to you, it is a pretty movie to watch, one that strikes you with its colors in vivid nature that remind you what it means to look and feel what a film is trying to convey to you about people and surroundings that make for a vibrant experience. It has its highs and lows in pacing, but it never stumbles in being a worthwhile film worth a close eye.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
*Incidentally, he is the namesake of an award for achievement in Japanese literary culture.
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