[1][2][3] The story, set in the Heian period, depicts the conflict between Korean painter Yoshihide and his Japanese patron, the cruel and egotistical Lord Horikawa.

(For example, a painting of a man killed by Horikawa's soldiers at the beginning of the film gives off the stench of a rotting corpse.)

Ultimately, Yoshihide asks that he be allowed to portray hell on a screen for the wall of the temple, and Horikawa agrees.

Horikawa agrees to this, but to provide a model for the scene, he has Yoshihide's daughter Yoshika chained in the carriage.

The climax of the film is slightly vague, but the audience is led to believe that Horikawa becomes trapped in his own private hell through the power of the portrait.