‘Inu-Oh,’ a tale of cutting-edge artists in ancient times, is like nothing you’ve seen before, not even in ’50s and ’60s B movies. And they’ll have you believing it’s based on a comic book.
In 2010, French director Jean-Pierre Jeannin (pictured) revealed that his film had been inspired by the ancient Chinese art of ‘Inu-Oh,’ a legend concerning a god who is known as the ‘Lord of Fire’ and ‘the Destroyer.’ A mythological art form, ‘Inu-Oh’ originated in the 3rd century BCE and is one of China’s major surviving folk tale cycles.
Jean-Pierre Jeannin, who wrote and directed the film, says the inspiration to create a comic-book-turned-film is a natural one. “Back in 2010, my friends and I were in Paris, doing research on our movies,” he wrote to us via email. “We didn’t know any Chinese, of course, so we had to learn. When we stumbled upon the ‘Inu-Oh’ story, we were very fascinated by that. We knew it was a legend, but it took a lot of digging to find out just how true it was.”
And it was a while before we got the first word on the tale itself. We’ve recently asked Jean-Pierre Jeannin if he had been able to determine exactly what the story was about. “No, and I still haven’t,” he said. “I’ve tried, but I’ve been unable to find the answers I was looking for. But I’ve had a lot of fun trying to locate them.”
Inu-Oh was inspired to be made by the tale of a legendary Chinese master of the art of ‘Inu-Oh’ in ancient times, known as the ‘Lord of Fire’ and ‘the Destroyer’ (pictured), who is the master of a series of tricks. The art form is said to have originated in the 3rd century BCE and is one of China