The Story



Our film is based on Akutagawa Ryunosuke's 1918 short story Jigokuhen, which translates as 'Hell Screen'. The title refers to Japanese screen painting, in particular to the sub-genre that portrays the multi-realmed Buddhist hell. Akutagawa Ryunosuke is, i've been told, one of Japan's most famous authors; the equivelant of Shakespeare or Anne Rice in the Western world. Despite this, he seems to be relatively unknown in North America, which is sad.

Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon was based on two short stories by the same dude; that 1960's production is Ryunosuke's only real claim to fame in the West. Kurosawa's films rule because they have samurai in them.

Jigokuhen is the tale of a painter and his commission to paint an image of Hell. For some reason I really hate trying to summarize the story, so go Google 'Hell Screen' and Ryunosuke. Anyways, everybody dies in the end, bad stuff happens, blah blah blah. The crux of the story is two key plot lines: The painter's obsession with the painting and his absolute need for real models of suffering lead him down a particular path of fate; the great Daimyo becomes obsessed with the painter's virtous young daughter, which leads him down his own path. Eventually, the two plot lines converge, and hijinxs ensue - lots of high-fiving jive-talking apes, road trips, love lost and found, and the true meaning of Christmas revealed.