View source for Gate of Hell (film)

{{Short description|1953 film by Teinosuke Kinugasa}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Jigokumon
| image          = Jigokumon poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Teinosuke Kinugasa]]
| producer       = [[Masaichi Nagata]]
| writer         = Teinosuke Kinugasa
| starring       = [[Kazuo Hasegawa]]<br>[[Machiko Kyō]]
| music          = [[Yasushi Akutagawa]]
| cinematography = [[Kōhei Sugiyama]]
| editing        = [[Shigeo Nishida]]
| studio         = [[Daiei Film]]
| distributor    = Daiei Film
| released       = {{film date|1953|10|31}}
| runtime        = 86 minutes
| country        = Japan
| language       = Japanese
| budget         = {{JPY|41.5 million}}{{efn|The film had a direct production budget of approximately {{JPY|41,479,000}}, with advertising and other expenses bringing its overall cost to {{JPY|86,450,000}}.<ref name="Nagata">{{cite book|title=永田雅一|date=1962 |trans-title=Masaichi Nagata|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLxIAAAAMAAJ|language=ja|page=|publisher=Jiji Press|isbn=|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>{{rp|151}}<ref name="Yearbook">{{cite book|title=映画年鑑|trans-title=Movie Yearbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6QvAQAAIAAJ|via=[[Google Books]] |language=ja |volume=16 |date=1994 |page=133}}</ref> }}
| gross          = {{JPY|151.8 million}} (Japan){{efn|The film's exact Japanese gross was an estimated {{JPY|151,790,000}}.<ref name="Nagata"/>{{rp|152}}<ref name="Yearbook"/> }}<br>{{USD|500,000|long=no}} (U.S.)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/details/per_christian-science-monitor_1957-01-23_49_49/|title=Japanese Film Week in New York—Prospects for Boston Screens|newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|page=7|quote=''Gate of Hell'', which grossed about $500,000 in the United States, was shown in approximately 750 theaters.|date=January 23, 1957}}</ref>
}}
{{Nihongo|'''''Gate of Hell'''''|地獄門|Jigokumon|lead=yes}} is a 1953 Japanese ''[[jidaigeki]]'' film directed by [[Teinosuke Kinugasa]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%A1%A3%E7%AC%A0%E8%B2%9E%E4%B9%8B%E5%8A%A9-51252|title=Teinosuke Kinugasa|publisher=kotobank|access-date=10 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=23845&key_search=%E5%9C%B0%E7%8D%84%E9%96%80|title=地獄門|publisher=[[Kinema Junpo]]|access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref> It tells the story of a [[samurai]] ([[Kazuo Hasegawa]]) who tries to marry a woman ([[Machiko Kyō]]) he rescues, only to discover that she is already married. Filmed using [[Eastmancolor]], ''Gate of Hell'' was [[Daiei Film]]'s first color film and the first Japanese color film to be released outside Japan. It was digitally restored in 2011 by the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo and Kadokawa Shoten Co., LTD. in cooperation with NHK.
The film won the [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] and the [[Academy Award for Best International Feature Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] Awards at the [[27th Academy Awards]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Academy Awards, USA (1955) |url=http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000003/1955/1/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=IMDb}}</ref> and the [[Palme d'Or|Grand Prize]] (the top prize of that year) at the [[1954 Cannes Film Festival]].
==Plot==
During the [[Heiji Rebellion]], samurai Endō Morito is assigned to escort [[lady-in-waiting]] Kesa away from the palace after she had volunteered to disguise herself as the [[daimyō]]’s sister, giving the daimyō’s father and real sister time to escape unseen. Kesa is knocked unconscious when the rebels attack their caravan, and Morito takes her to his brother’s home. When Morito’s brother arrives, he reveals that he too is part of the rebellion and suggests Morito join him. Morito refuses to betray the daimyō, Lord [[Taira no Kiyomori|Kiyomori]]. Once he and Kesa are safe, Morito proves his loyalty to Kiyomori by personally riding to him to deliver news about the insurrection, including his brother's disloyalty.
After the coup has failed, Morito encounters Kesa again. Infatuated with her, he asks Lord Kiyomori, who is granting one wish to each of the loyal warriors who helped put down the rebellion, to grant him Kesa’s hand in marriage. He is informed that Kesa is already married to Wataru, a samurai of the Imperial Guard, but Morito demands that his wish be granted. Kesa is concerned by Morito's determination, but Wataru promises to protect her.
After hearing Kesa perform [[koto (instrument)|koto]] music, Lord Kiyomori begins to sympathize with Morito. He decides to give Morito a chance to compete for Kesa’s hand. Morito enters a horse race in which Wataru is competing, and outrides him. However, after the race is over, he nearly attacks Wataru at a “Forget the Race” dinner, visibly disturbing everyone around him.
Morito goes to speak to Kesa. At Kesa's request, her handmaid Tone tells Morito that Kesa has gone to visit her aunt. Morito goes to the aunt's home and discovers the lie. He forces the aunt to write a note to Kesa claiming she is ill and needs Kesa to come and see her. Kesa is terrified to find Morito waiting for her. When Morito threatens to kill Wataru and Kesa and her aunt if he cannot have his way, Kesa tells him she will fulfill his heart’s desires. She agrees to a plan for Morito to kill Wataru and claim her once she is widowed.
Kesa returns home and behaves generously to Tone and lovingly to Wataru. After everyone has gone to bed, Morito sneaks into the bedroom and kills the figure beneath the blankets with his sword. He is horrified to discover that he has killed Kesa. Realizing that Kesa has sacrificed herself rather than subject herself or anyone else to his insanity, Morito fruitlessly begs Wataru to kill him in penance. As Wataru mourns his dead wife, Morito kneels in the courtyard, cuts off his samurai topknot and vows to live thereafter as a monk.
==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[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]]
* [[Masao Shimizu]] – [[Fujiwara no Nobuyori]]
* [[Tatsuya Ishiguro]] – Yachuta
* [[Kenjirō Uemura]] – Masanaka
* [[Gen Shimizu]] – Saburosuke
* [[Michiko Araki]] – Mano
* [[Yoshie Minami]] – Tone
* [[Kikue Mōri]] – Sawa
* [[Ryōsuke Kagawa]] – Yasutada
* [[Kunitarō Sawamura]] – Moritada
{{div col end}}
==Production==
* [[Yoshinobu Nishioka]] - Art director<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%A5%BF%E5%B2%A1%E5%96%84%E4%BF%A1-1098861|title=デジタル版 日本人名大辞典+Plus「西岡善信」の解説|publisher=kotobank|language=ja|access-date=26 November 2021}}</ref>
==Reception==
After the [[Japan Society (Manhattan)|Japan Society]] sponsored a U.S. release of the film in December 1954, [[Bosley Crowther]] reviewed it for ''The New York Times''. According to Crowther:<ref>{{cite web |first=Bosley |last=Crowther |author-link=Bosley Crowther |date=14 December 1954 |title=Gate of Hell (1953) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9901E4D9173CE03ABC4C52DFB467838F649EDE |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222152615/https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9901E4D9173CE03ABC4C52DFB467838F649EDE |archive-date=22 December 2014 |url-status=dead |department=The Screen in Review |work=The New York Times |access-date=10 September 2022}}</ref>
<blockquote>The secret, perhaps, of its rare excitement is the subtlety with which it blends a subterranean flood of hot emotions with the most magnificent flow of surface serenity. The tensions and agonies of violent passions are made to seethe behind a splendid silken screen of stern formality, dignity, self-discipline and sublime esthetic harmonies. The very essence of ancient Japanese culture is rendered a tangible stimulant in this film.</blockquote>On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92%, based on 13 reviews, with an average score of 8.3/10.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1954-12-10 |title=Gate of Hell - Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gate_of_hell |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=www.rottentomatoes.com |language=en}}</ref>
==Awards==
''Gate of Hell'' won the grand prize award at the [[1954 Cannes Film Festival]],<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3843/year/1954.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Gate of Hell |access-date=2009-01-25|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> a 1954 [[Academy Honorary Award]] for Best Foreign Language Film first released in the United States during 1954, along with the [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color]],<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000003/1955 | title= Awards for 1955| publisher= IMDb| access-date= 2014-09-14}}</ref> and the 1954 [[New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Award]] for Best Foreign Language Film. It won the [[Golden Leopard]] at the [[Locarno International Film Festival]].<ref name="Locarno">{{Cite web|url=http://www.pardo.ch/jahia/Jahia/home/Festival/History/Winners-of-the-Golden-Leopard/lang/en |title=Winners of the Golden Leopard |access-date=2012-08-12 |work=Locarno |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719031720/http://www.pardo.ch/jahia/Jahia/home/Festival/History/Winners-of-the-Golden-Leopard/lang/en |archive-date=2009-07-19 }}</ref>
==Home video==
In the United Kingdom, ''Gate of Hell'' was released in 2012 on Blu-ray Disc and DVD as part of the [[Masters of Cinema]] line;<ref>{{cite web| url= http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/76136/gate-of-hell.html| date= 2 December 2012| first= Anthony| last= Nield| title= Gate of Hell| publisher= The Digital Fix| access-date= 2014-09-14| archive-date= 2015-07-04| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150704112037/http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/76136/gate-of-hell.html| url-status= dead}}</ref> the next year [[The Criterion Collection]] released it in the United States.<ref>{{cite web| title= ''Gate of Hell'': A Colorful History | url= http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2727-gate-of-hell-a-colorful-history |first=Stephen |last= Prince | author-link= Stephen Prince | date= April 10, 2013| publisher= The Criterion Collection| access-date= 2014-09-14}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[List of jidaigeki films]]
* [[List of historical films set in Asia]]
==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0045935}}
* {{AllMovie title|19290|Jigokumon}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=76020}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2727-gate-of-hell-a-colorful-history ''Gate of Hell: A Colorful History''] an essay by [[Stephen Prince]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]
{{Teinosuke Kinugasa}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''Gate of Hell''
|list =
{{AcademyAwardBestForeignLanguageFilm 1947–1960}}
{{Academy Honorary Award}}
{{Palme d'Or}}
{{Golden Leopard}}
{{Japanese submissions for the Academy Award}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1953 films]]
[[Category:1953 drama films]]
[[Category:1950s Japanese-language films]]
[[Category:1950s samurai films]]
[[Category:Jidaigeki films]]
[[Category:Films set in the 12th century]]
[[Category:Films awarded an Academy Honorary Award]]
[[Category:Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award]]
[[Category:Palme d'Or winners]]
[[Category:Golden Leopard winners]]
[[Category:Films directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa]]
[[Category:Films produced by Masaichi Nagata]]
[[Category:Films scored by Yasushi Akutagawa]]
[[Category:Daiei Film films]]
[[Category:Japanese drama films]]
[[Category:1950s Japanese films]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Taira no Kiyomori]]