352 Jigoku

[Cold Bishop]

We only have rights to sell and distribute our products in Region 1 territories (the United States and Canada). Therefore, we cannot directly ship any DVDs to the UK. However, if you could provide a shipping address in North America, we could ship a replacement copy to that address for forwarding to you.

I'm going to bite the bullet and buy another copy. It's my own fault, for taking so long to read this topic. (I've had the "first printing" copy for 12 months.)

Geez... I almost feel like volunteering to forward it to you. I always thought Criterion had no problem delivering replacement discs and booklets out of the US. I mean, it makes sense they wouldn't, but I've swear I've seen them do it.

[Paul Moran]

Geez... I almost feel like volunteering to forward it to you. I always thought Criterion had no problem delivering replacement discs and booklets out of the US. I mean, it makes sense they wouldn't, but I've swear I've seen them do it.

Yes, they've certainly done it in the past. For example, they sent me the replacement slipcase for the Rohmer set, and a missing booklet for another title.

I'll have to make a point of reading the topics on new releases in future, in case there are any reports of disc faults. Then I will be able to return them to the retailer for exchange or refund.

[neal]

I'll have to make a point of reading the topics on new releases in future, in case there are any reports of disc faults. Then I will be able to return them to the retailer for exchange or refund.

Booklets and slipcovers are a different animal-- they're not covered by the same licensing/distribution agreements that prohibit Criterion from directly shipping DVDs of licensed films overseas.

[dad1153]

Watching "Jigoku" for the first time a few months back was one of the happiest accidents of my movie-loving life. I was scanning my cable guide's schedules for the week ahead when I spotted IFC showing a movie Friday overnight at 4AM with the generic title "Hell." No director, no stars, not even a rating (Time Warner Cable's cable guide rates the movies it shows with 1-4 stars for some reason). Just the release year (1961) and a generic description ('two man kill another in a car accident and try to cover their crime') were offered. Something about this lack of info caught my attention so I DVR'ed "Hell" and forgot about it. A couple of weeks later the DVR was getting full so it was time to empty it by either deleting the saved junk or watching it. I didn't even know "Hell" was the English translation of the title of a Japanese movie named "Jigoku" until I sat on the couch on a lazy Saturday afternoon to watch.

I'm telling you this because, for better or worse, when we buy a Criterion movie (or watch it on cable) we already have a pretty good idea of what type of movie we're getting. If I get a Melville, a Kurosawa or a Jarmush Criterion I'm pretty sure I'm not getting a Paul Morrisey-type experience (unless it's a once-in-a-career-lifetime exception that will be prominently advertised on the box). Unlike 99% of those that sought to see it I went into "Jigoku" not knowing jack about its origins, reputation or even its genre. Holy s***! The first two thirds of the movie totally didn't prepare me for what comes in the last third. I really believed Nobuo Nakagawa's intent all along was to present the life of Shiro (Shigeru Amachi) as a series of subdued 'hellish' events slowly eating at his inner soul. A 'hell of Earth' metaphor/commentary on human life if you will. The movie's first hour feels like a "Twilight Zone"-like study about the many things in a man's tortured psyche (like caring for one's dying mother while father is sleeping with his mistress in the next room) or a society (a cop taking bribes, a doctor deliberately misdiagnosing sicknesses, etc.) that can be considered evil, hellish or just plain bad. Even though he wasn't asking for it Shiro earned my sympathy as a genuinely nice guy who couldn't seem to catch a break.

Then the movie pulls it's 180 twist and becomes the "Sin City"-like exercise in stylish but grotesque visual imagery of its day. The first two thirds of "Jigoku," which I thought represented what the whole movie would be like, end on the rather-comical mass suicide/death of every living character we've known, including our hero Shiro (!). The visual representations of how everybody's actions while living have caught up with them in a hellish afterlife (a Japanese/Buddhist interpretation of Dante's Seven Circles of Hell) must have shocked the hell out of people back in 1960. It sure did to me even though it's nowhere near as gory or extreme as more recent fare. We never actually see the demons hitting people in the mouth or knocking their teeth, just the toothless bloody aftermath (which is plenty f***ed-up on its own). As I watched this unexpected-to-me detour into grindhouse territory my inner movie geek screamed at me that this wasn't the kind of cinema even folks that sought out fringe cinema were used to experiencing in 1960. Loved Yoichi Numata's crazy-cool interpretation of Shiro's partner-in-crime Tamura, whose 'devilish' character reminds me of Jin Kazama from the "Tekken" videogames. Can't say I'm dying to rewatch "Jigoku" anytime soon (it made its point and impression on me but isn't something that screams 'watch me again') but how I came to see it effectively ranks it as one of the 'WTF??!!' highlights of my adult movie viewing life.

[Dr. Geek]

I believe this film can be succinctly summed up as follows: Japanese Chick Tract.

[Orlac]

How is it to order now? Are 2nd pressings standard?

[med]

You should be safe. I got it about a year ago from Barnes & Noble; it was the second pressing.