Jigoku (1960)

This was my third visit to the Wild Japan season at the NFT and a more schizophrenic film I have yet to see.  Although recently released onto DVD in the States, this movie has long been regarded as a lost classic from director Nobuo Nakagawa, a horror specialist.  Unfortunately it is not quite the gem I was expecting, although not without interest.  The title translates as "Hell" and the movie falls into two related but discrete halves.  In the first part, a happily engaged student sees his life collapse under the influence of a mysterious colleague who involves him in a hit-and-run crime.  Then, by a series of unlikely coincidences and catastrophes, he and vitually every other of the numerous characters ends up dead.  The film now moves into its second half which recreates the Buddhist view of the eight circles of hell in gaudy colour and lurid images.  It takes the line that we are all sinners and even so-called innocents, which includes children who die before their parents and unborn babies, must suffer eternal damnation.  The schizophrenia stems from the rather draggy first half morphing into the phantasmagoric second half without blinking.

I don't know whether I'm getting fed up with blogging -- I certainly used to churn out more reviews per week -- or whether there seem to be a growing number of movies that I have no inclination to cover.  Some examples from the last few days: "Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo" with the embarrassing Rob Schneider pushing the boundaries of good taste to bursting point and with respected Dutch actor Jeroen Krabbe slumming for a pay cheque.  Then there was"The Constant Gardener", about as worthy a film as you could hope to view about illegal drug tests in Africa, but one that seemed to be hitting the viewer over the head with its message.  I know Rachel Weisz won a best supporting Oscar for her role in this, but I was in no way inspired by or in awe of her performance.