Rohan au Louvre (film)

"It draws the viewer into the world of the abyss... It's the ultimate in suspense. (観る者を深淵なる世界へと誘う、極上サスペンス)"

Rohan au Louvre (岸辺露伴 ルーヴルへ行く) is a live-action movie adaptation of the one-shot Rohan au Louvre, based on the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan TV drama series by. The English version of the film is titled Rohan at the Louvre.

It was officially announced on January 4, 2023 and released in Japanese theaters on May 26, 2023. According to Issey Takahashi, the movie functions as the ninth episode of the TV drama.

The film released digitally worldwide exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on September 22, 2023. It will also be airing in Toronto, Canada at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre on October 5, 2023.

Synopsis
Rohan Kishibe, a manga artist with a special ability, once heard a rumor in his youth about a Black Painting from a woman he had a crush on. It was not only the blackest, but the most evil painting in the world.

Time passes, and in the process of writing a new work, Rohan learns that the painting is held at the Louvre Museum. He thus visits France for a viewing, and for a faint yearning he once had. However, strangely enough, even the museum staff was unaware of the existence of the Black Painting, and its storage location in the database was Warehouse Z-13, an underground warehouse that should have been empty.

There, Rohan comes face-to-face with the horrifying events caused by the Black Painting...

Summary
The story begins with Rohan Kishibe, a famous manga artist, resting in the alcove of his office. He has a vision of a woman in black standing on a field of grass, which rekindles his interest in a long-forgotten subject.

Maurice Legrand's Black Painting
Some time later, Rohan visits an antique shop managed by a pair of men. The senior clerk hesitantly asks what Rohan wants to which the manga artist answers he's doing research for his work. The older man enthusiatically tries to sell him a replica of an antique Momoyama period bowl, stating that it looks just like an original and that even a manga artist can afford it. The junior clerk who was reading a catalogue at his counter recognizes Rohan as a famous manga artist and tries to warn his colleague. However, Rohan is already vexed and begins a rant. Offended, Rohan asks if the clerk really thinks he or any expert artist couldn't tell the difference between a fake and a genuine article and declares that what he needs is reality that he can use to tell his stories. Surprised, the clerks head towards the back of the shop to show him a real article, but then Rohan asks to know more about a certain fencing operation. The clerks, clearly guilty, try to shoo Rohan, but then Rohan uses a special ability to turn them into books: Heaven's Door. With Heaven's Door, Rohan Kishibe is able to read into people like books and learn about their history and their thoughts. Plus, if he writes an order on someone's page, they cannot defy the command. Rohan uses the chance to command the clerks to respect the art they sell, although he doesn't bother to call the police on their operation. Rohan then spots the catalogue the younger clerk was reading and sees a pitch black painting that will be auctioned. Rohan takes an interest in the painting and decides to participate in the auction.

The day of the auction, Rohan meets with his editor, a merry young woman named Kyoka Izumi. Izumi has facilitated Rohan's admission into the auction and reports back to Rohan, amazed that anyone can actually participate and not just rich people. She mentions that she had to reveal his identity to get an admission, Rohan being an admired artist himself and that he'll have to have three autographs ready ; this naturally annoys Rohan who doesn't want to distribute autographs. Izumi also shows Rohan the bidding paddle (which she mispronouncces as "bidding pedal") that they will use. When Izumi asks Rohan what he is interesting in the auction, Rohan shows her the catalogue of items to be auctioned off, pointing to a pitch black painting named "Noire" by an obscure French artist named Maurice Legrand. Izumi is somewhat disappointed there aren't paintings from famous artists like Van Gogh though Rohan points out it would make the news. Rohan suggests Izumi goes home, not wanting her with him, but she wants to experience the auction alongside Rohan because she is managing a website promoting Rohan's work and thus she wants to use the experience to write a research diary for him online. Rohan resigns himself to her presence and goes to the auction.

Rohan and Izumi attend the auction and see how attendants and even clerks on the phone bid by raising their paddles. When the "Noire" painting comes up, the bid starts at 200,000 yen and Rohan bids. Soon, a pair of men try to outbid Rohan and start a bidding contest. Soon, they have to bid large sums but Rohan finally tops his competitor by bidding 1,500,000 yen and acquires the painting.

Rohan and Izumi head back towards the manga artist's house. Still excited by the bidding, Izumi asks why Rohan is interested in the painting, to which Rohan answers he's interested in the black color of the painting. Back in his office, Izumi discovers that the room is filled with all sorts of items, plants, and even an aquarium housing squids. Rohan explains that these are all sources of pigments. For instance, he has a disc of red cotton whose pigment was collected from crushed cochineals, or a stick of gamboge used for yellow pigment. Rohan is looking into the compatibility between the pigments and his manuscript papers to create colored pages. He had hoped to study the black pigment of the painting by Legrand, but he is disappointed.

Rohan asks Izumi if she knows about the blackest color in the world. As she is ignorant about the subject, Rohan shows her and example of a very black color such as the feathers from a bird of paradise that nearly completely absorbs light. However, Rohan is sure that even this is not the blackest color, and he mentions a black painting created by a certain Nizaemon Yamamura, an obscure painter from 250 years ago. Incidentally, Rohan spots a spider roaming on the board of his window and sees a vision of the woman in black telling him something unheard. Izumi asks him who told him about Yamamura and Rohan answers that he doesn't remember.

Suddenly, Rohan sees a man trying to sneak into Rohan's property and opens up a gate from his window. He runs out of the office and tries to check on the iron gate, finding of the men from the auction who tried to outbid him. Thankfully, he's been turned into a book. However, there is a second man who sneaks behind Rohan and steals the Maurice Legrand painting, running into the forest bordering Rohan's house. He tears the paper behind the frame and seems disapppointed to find nothing here. However, a black liquid oozes from the back of the painting. When the man touches it, he begins to see spiders covering him. In a panic, the thief tries to take off his coat. Suddenly, the thief also hears a car approaching at high speed. Fearful, he runs off.

Moments later, Rohan and Izumi find the painting left on the ground. They notice some words written in French on the back of the canvas which Izumi translate as "This is the black seen at the Louvre. remorse". Incidentally, the second man flees after spying on them. Back into the office, the duo ponder on the meaning of the message. They make a connection between this and the black painting Rohan mentioned earlier, and thus Rohan decides to visit the Louvre museum in Paris. One of the thiefs reports back to an unknown contact, saying that he wants out of the operation and confirming that there was nothing behind the painting. Meanwhile, the second thief who had touched the black liquid finds himself run over by an unseen car, and dies in the forest.

At her office, Izumi gazes at a photography and dreams of going to Paris. Meanwhile, Rohan sees the woman in black again and tries to sketch her. He finally reminisces his youth during which he met said woman.

A Young Rohan and Nanase
When Rohan was a mere teenage aspiring mangaka, he moved into his grandmother's inn. His grandfather had passed away that year and his grandmother began to empty the house of all furnitures and unneeded items, selling some to antique dealers. At the same time, she wanted to rent some room. Apart from the one dealer visiting the grandmother, the inn was nearly empty and Rohan hoped to take advantage of the peace to focus on his drawing. One evening, Rohan surprised a woman undressed in the changing. Although he hurriedly apologized and shut the room, Rohan noted that he was going into the right changing room for men but that the signs that his grandmother had placed were confusing. Flustered by the experience, Rohan soon became attracted to that pretty woman who was residing with him and his grandmother. In the narration, Rohan adds that her name was Nanase.

One day as Rohan was sketching in the garden, he saw Nanase hanging clothes in her room and tried to sketch her. Nanase suddenly disappeared only to reappear behind Rohan, asking if he was looking for her. Wondering if he was peeping, Nanase looked at his sketchbook and asked if he was drawing manga. Upset and after fumbling his rant, Rohan explained himself and said that his editor had asked him to draw cuter girls to make a series that would sell. Although he felt insulted, Rohan felt compelled to listen to the advice of a professional. Rohan apologized to Nanase for drawing her without her consent as part of his training. Interested in Rohan, Nanase asked to see his work later.

One night, Nanase actually invited Rohan in her room go look at his drawings. Still shy, Rohan remained at the door but Nanase insisted on him coming inside. Agitated, Rohan tried to delay his viewing of his art, saying it was already late, but Nanase assured him that she didn't want to criticize but just look at his art he drew with his heart and soul. Rohan insisted, because it was unfinished work and he didn't want to show it. Nanase thus changed subject. She turned off the lights, only letting a small lamp lit. It is then that she asked if Rohan ever heard of the blackest painting in the world. She described this painting, painted with such black that it didn't reflect light and was unseeable. According to her, it was the blackest and evilest painting ever, created 250 years ago by Nizaemon Yamamura. Yamamura had used the perfect black pigment extracted from a sacred tree. Rohan asked where the painting was, and she answered that it was in the Louvre. Finally, Nanase wondered what the blackest black would reflect, and warned Rohan not to approach the painting. Suddenly, a spider came out of Nanase's hand, and she hurriedly excused herself, telling Rohan to leave and even snapping at him when he lingered. Later that night, Rohan heard Nanase seemingly leave the inn and she indeed disappeared from the house.

Rohan continued to work on his manuscript, though his mind was still preoccupied. Incidentally, Yoshio Kawadori, the antique dealer whom his grandmother had asked to organize the storage had gone missing but Rohan dismissed the issue, stating that since he had found a buyer for her stuff, the buyer would come pick up what he had bought anyway. As he finished his drawing, Rohan finally heard Nanase come back. When he barged into her room, Nanase tearfully embraced him. At that point, Rohan didn't know what was happening with Nanase, but he swore to protect her and held her in his arms. Staring to turn her into a book with Heaven's Door, Rohan suddenly showed restraint and decided not to pry further. At this point, Nanase noticed Rohan's manuscript and saw that Rohan had drawn a beautiful girl in black. Asking if it was her, she became angry when Rohan added that the black of the drawing wasn't perfected yet. She became mad at Rohan for drawing her and stabbed the manuscript with a pair of scissors. Rohan was shocked. Nanase apologized and told him something unheard, before she left for good. Rohan asked his grandmother where Nanase went, but she actually doesn't remember anyone by this name. The grandmother changed the subject and told Rohan to give a painting in the storage to a foreign buyer who would come soon. On the radio, there were news of Kawadori found dead in a junkyard, seemingly drowned where despite the lack of water sources in the area. Rohan gave the painting to the buyer, who left in a hurry. Rohan continued his life, wondering whether Nanase really existed as she appeared as suddenly as she left. Nonetheless, Rohan continued to see her as a woman in black standing on a field of grass and telling him something he couldn't hear.

In the present, Rohan wonders why these memories resurfaced with the black painting of Maurice Legrand and is sure that it isn't mere curiosity that is leading him to the Louvre and to the blackest painting stored within.

Rohan at the Louvre
At the Louvre's Cultural Mediation Department, M. Jacques Blanc checks on his subordinate Emma Noguchi. She is to serve as the interpreter and guide to Rohan Kishibe. Blanc worries about Emma's state of mind, moreso because she is handling a prestigious visitor, but she assures him that she is up to the task. She hasn't had the time to prepare the answers to some of the questions that Izumi sent to them via email, thus Blanc tells Emma to welcome Rohan and Izumi while he handles the email himself. After Emma leaves, Blanc looks at Izumi's email and actually recognizes the name "Nizaemon Yamamura".

At the same time, Rohan and Izumi are taking a bus tour through Paris. Izumi is enjoying herself and takes pictures of Rohan for the online diary, to his annoyance. An old French lady asks Rohan where are the Champs-Elysées in French, to which Rohan tells her they are there right now in fluent French. This also impresses Izumi. They eventually meet with Emma, with whom Izumi shares her fascination of Parisian lifestyle and how she always dreamt of visiting Paris. At Rohan's insistence since he is focused on his research, Emma leads them to the Louvre instead of the hotel. At the Napoleon courtyard which serves as the main entrance to the Louvre, Izumi asks Emma to take a picture of her. On their way down to the main hall, two young men recognize Rohan and ask him for an autograph. Rohan criticizes their casual clothing when visiting the museum but still gives them autographs, one being even drawn on the back of one of the fans' jacket.

In the museum proper, Izumi and Rohan are able to admire the artworks but also the opulent interior. Rohan takes the time to admire the Mona Lisa. Izumi sees a painting reproducing a painting and inquires about it. Emma answers that artists are allowed to reproduce paintings inside the Louvre as the museum has focused on the development of art and culture. Emma adds that Maurice Legrand was actually an artist specialized in reproduction. Rohan and Izumi suspect that he may have seen the black painting and tried to reproduce it, but there is officially no Japanese painting at the Louvre. Still, there is still a possibility that the painting is in storage. For several years, the Louvre has been moving its stored items to a new storage center to protect them from flooding. During this project, the workers even rediscovered over 1,000 works of art from a 20th century collection donated to the museum resting in the basement storage, with over 100 Eastern artworks.

The conversation is interrupted by a man quoting Van Gogh's praise of Japanese artists to Rohan. Emma thus presents Ryunosuke Tatsumi to Rohan and Izumi and explains that he is one of the researchers hired by the Louvre to handle the Eastern artworks. Tatsumi says that he's seen the cover of one of Rohan's manga and immediately became a fan, explaining his eagerness to meet the manga artist. Seemingly flattered, Rohan shakes hands with Tatsumi.

As they walk through the Louvre, Tatsumi says that he was well acquainted with Maurice Legrand who was exceptional at reproduction before he died in an accident. Suddenly, they hear someone shouting in the museum. It is Jacques Blanc who is running in fear and shouting for help. Talking to some unseen entity, Jacques finally falls from a balcony down the escalier Daru, shocking everybody. Before he falls unconscious, Blanc manages to whisper the words "spider" and "black hair".

Later, out of the Louvre, Rohan and Izumi discuss the incident. Thankfully, M. Blanc is alive. They wonder why he would seemingly jump down a balcony and mention the words he whispered. Izumi makes a link with Maurice Legrand's painting whose impasto recreates the image of a spider web and of long flowing hair, though the link remains uncertain. Rohan brings up the sentence written at the back of Legrand's painting and Izumi figures out that it means that Legrand saw something remorseful at the Louvre. Meanwhile, one of Emma's colleagues informs her that M. Blanc recognized the name of Nizaemon Yamamura.

Production
Filming ended in Japan in Fall 2022 and continued in Paris, France. The film was shot on location at the, the , the , the , the Bridge, and the. It is unusual for a film to be permitted to be shot at the Louvre, and this is the second Japanese film to be shot there since , which was released in 2014. Other filming locations include, a café situated on the ; the in Paris; the town of  in Fukushima Prefecture; and the Hotel New Grand in Yokohama. Rohan's Grandmother's ryokan at which Rohan meets Nanase is the Mukaitaki ryokan in the town of Aizuwakamatsu.

The soundtrack was composed by Naruyoshi Kikuchi. Kikuchi specifies that the staff for the recording of the soundtrack has been tripled compared to the TV Drama. The main theme has been reworked, with claves being added to the original music for instance. Percussion instruments were favored for the production of the soundtrack, including Javanese and Balinese, but instruments such as the shamisen were also used.

Kento Nagao personally drew some of the sketches seen on the young Rohan's sketchbook.

The Japanese painter Fukui Ouka, who specializes in western-style oil paintings, has created several works for the film.

Reception
During the first weekend of its release, the movie generated ¥314,736,080 in revenues. After a month, the movie generated ¥1,000,000,000 in revenues with an estimated minimum of 720,000 viewers.