Strictly average movie

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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.

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

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

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.