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Revenge of a Kabuki Actor

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This is the ultimate Japanese film...one that was intended to be enjoyed in the unique culture for which it was made. Ostensibly the story is about a Kabuki actor (who plays female roles) who notices his enemies in his audience. Enraged, he contrives a complicated revenge against those who ruined his family decades before. But the manner in which the film is performed is a huge Kabuki play - part stage and part natural world.

On many levels this is an exceptionally stunning color movie...one that influenced even recent films such as "Memoirs of a Geisha." Sometimes, the director focuses his scene with a background of just one intense color - perhaps scarlet red or sky blue or sun yellow. In other frames, the emphasis is on the glorious fabrics worn by the Japanese characters in this period drama of the first decades of the 1800's. The film switches from elaborate stage to the ordinary world effortlessly.

Nevertheless, one should "never" underestimate the humanism of director Kon Ichikawa, a man who is unafraid to challenge traditional Japanese values. For example,a great many films of Japan deal with the duty of an individual to right an injustice against his family, his lover, or his clan. This is understood as the bushido way. But this director is unafraid to rethink these values. In his celebrated movie "The Burmese Harp", Ichikawa adopts the point of view that the Japanese were correct to surrender in 1945 rather than waste - for no good reason - the lives of exhausted Japanese soldiers who had no chance to win the war, let alone a single battle.

In this film, the director ends the film on an ambiguous note - that the revenge was probably wrong ... because the Kabuki player harms an innocent in order to carry out his elaborate scheme to drive his victims to madness and despair. At the very end, we do not even know the whereabouts of the main actor. Perhaps he has joined a far away Kabuki troupe or perhaps he has isolated himself into a Buddhist monastery.

If you are looking for a film that is rich poetry, this is a very good choice to make. Highly recommended.

I saw this film in the early 90's on VHS and have been waiting for a very long time for it to be released on DVD. Visually, it is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Every shot is like a beautiful painting with colors so intense that you won't believe your eyes. Even though the film was made in 1963, it is surprising how today's films with all their computer generated bells and whistles, cannot match this film's cinematographic brilliance.

The theatricality of Kabuki is always prevalent in Japanese film. Sometimes it is overt, as in the Kabuki-play adaptation Ashura. Sometimes it isn't so obvious, as in the Kabuki-trained movements of Inou Rie as Sadako in Ring. But it is always there.

"Revenge of a Kabuki Actor" (Original title "Yukinojo Henge" or "Yukinojo's Transformation") clearly draws from this traditional Japanese theater explicitly. Not only does the story revolve around a Kabuki actor, an onnagata meaning a male who plays female roles, but also the imagery and style are also heavily Kabuki-influence. Some might still have a hard time with the subject matter. Hasegawa was much younger when he originated the role, and it might be difficult to see why a young and beautiful girl would fall for a 55-year old "drag queen", but that is historically accurate. The onnagata, thought to be the perfect blend of male and female, were often the target of young women's affection.

On top of that, "Revenge of a Kabuki Actor" is actually a re-make of an older 1935 film. This version was created as a celebration of the 300th movie of legendary actor Hasegawa Kazuo. Hasegawa, recipient of the Shiju-hosho, or "Medal of Honor with the Purple Ribbon" that is the highest honor the Japanese government can bestow upon one of its citizens, began as a Kabuki actor. Transferring to films, he played the dual-roles of Yukinojo and the bandit Yamitaro in the original "Yukinojo Henge", which proved popular enough to spawn several sequels. As a tribute to him, Ichikawa directed Hasegawa in this re-make of one of his most famous films.

Fortunately, your guide through this world is grandmaster Ichikawa Kon, one of the "Four Knights" of Japanese cinema, along with Kurosawa Akira, Kobayashi Masaki and Kinoshiita Keisuke. In the hands of a less-competent director, this much history and tradition packed into a film might prove too much of a barrier to viewers not steeped in the subjects. However, as shown in his classic documentary Tokyo Olympiad and war film Burmese Harp, Ichikawa can pull the human element out of almost anything.

Working with Hasegawa, Ichikawa weaves a multi-layered and complex story of a cloth so beautiful it is heart-breaking. He works with traditional Japanese imagery and colors, coming away with a moving painting. This is a true work of art. Ichikawa also puts his imprint on the story. I wouldn't want to give too much away, but the ending is classic, and perfect.

A man playing a beautiful woman playing a love scene with a beautiful woman may seem confusing. It may seem odder when the man playing the beautiful woman is also the actor playing a resourceful, ironic chief of bandits who shares several scenes with himself playing the beautiful woman. It may seem odder still that the actor was 55 years old, one of Japan's acting treasures, and carries off both roles with complete aplomb. And he should. Kazuo Hasegawa played the same roles in the first filming of Yukinojo Henge 28 years earlier.

Stay with this 1963 movie by Kon Ichikawa and you'll find yourself immersed in a story of revenge, humor and clever style that is not only odd but engrossing and amusing. The story is set in 1830's Edo in the world of Kabuki where highly trained male actors, onnagata, play women's roles. By law they must maintain the pretense in manner and dress in private life as well as in public. Yukinojo Nakamura (Kazuo Hasegawa) is a famous onnagata. During a performance he spots the businessmen who, 20 years earlier in Nagasaki, drove his parents to suicide. He was 11 then. Revenge has been his goal ever since. One of the men has a beautiful young daughter, Namiji, who falls madly in love with Yukinojo, as women often did with onnagata. She is pledged to the shogun, and she will be the lever for Yukinojo's revenge. But then there is Ohatsu, a beautiful pickpocket with a lovely face, an impertinent manner and a vocabulary that can make men blush. She falls in love with Yukinojo, too. And there is her boss, the master thief Yamitaro (also played by Kazuo Hasegawa). Yukinojo is calm, sad and remorseless, with a husky falsetto voice and walking with tiny steps. Yamitaro is athletic, confident and even impish, with a growl of a voice. Soon Ohatsu and Yamitaro will be urging Yukinojo on. Adding to the questionable amusement, Yukinojo, Namiji and Ohatsu are all virgins, with Namiji and Ohatsu eager for Yukinojo, so arousing in expensive kimono with his falsetto, to cure their situation,

All of this is conducted by Kon Ichikawa using one of the most stylish, sly mixes of movie making I've ever seen. There are flashbacks, voice-overs, confidences shared in whispers, a slashing sword fight or two, a ghost, elaborate Kabuki performances, a realistic rice riot and visuals that move within a reality as carefully constructed as the Kabuki sets. That's not to mention the jazzy riff that moves in now and then with Yamitaro and a corny melodic line worthy of Fifties' Hollywood. I'm almost sure Kon Ichikawa uses it deliberately. You're never sure how this stylized movie of many movements is going to end. Kon Ichikawa pulls it all together in a fine film that will probably puzzle some but should delight most. Just remember two things: Revenge is real and the innocent can pay. And that Ohatsu realizes Yamitaro has possibilities...he looks a little like Yukinojo.

Central to the story and to the delight of the movie is Kazuo Hasegawa. To cast it in Western terms, think of Russell Crowe not only playing Bud White but also, in a blonde wig and a low-cut, sheer white dress, Lynn Bracken. Well, that's probably a step too far. Hasegawa, at 55 and not denying middle age with a slight, soft double chin, is not only persuasive in both parts, but persuasive with the two completely differentiated sets of characteristics. He was a huge theater and movie star for years in Japan and, early in his career, trained as a Kabuki actor. Part of the humor of the movie, as well as the appreciation that comes from watching talent and skill, is Kon Ichikawa moving quickly from one scene with Hasegawa as Yukinojo to the next with Hasegawa as Yamitaro.

Revenge of a Kabuki Actor (Yukinojo Henge) may or not be a classic. Still, it's strange and it's beautiful. Perhaps it's a strange, beautiful classic. The color DVD transfer is just about perfect. Subtitles are outlined in yellow and easy to read. The Program Notes are a series of written comments about Kabuki, about Japan in the 1830's, explanations of some of the film's references and the importance and credits of Kon Ichikawa and Kazuo Hasegawa.

If the title of this review doesn't give you a clue of what to expect in this film, I can almost guarantee you won't like it. I would feel very guilty about recommending it to most of my own friends and relations. It's bizarre, difficult to contextualize and follow unless you start with some understanding of the traditions of Kabuki theater and of the social history of Edo (Tokyo), where Kabuki thrived. Much of the dramaturgy of this 1963 film will be familiar to fans of the classic 'samurai' genre, those films starring Mifune Toshiro and Nakadai Tatsuyo that made such glorious 'westerns' when Clint Eastwood and Jack Palance played the same roles. The visuals are gorgeous; in fact, the film won the Mainichi Film Concours prize for Art Direction. On the other hand, the musical sound track is ineffably dissociated, Reno cocktail lounge shmaltz. But that's only the fringe of the weirdness of a gender-bending melodrama that makes baroque Opera and its castrati seem utterly staid.

Yukinojo Henge, of a touring provincial kabuki company, becomes a sensation in Edo, acting entirely in female roles. We slowly discover that Yukinojo was the only son of a prosperous Nagasaki merchant who was betrayed and ruined by his partners. Both of Yukinojo's parents went mad and committed suicide. Yukinojo was raised by his father's friend with the overweening goal of vengeance, and it just so happens that the three objects of his hatred are now powerful wealthy men in Edo. Yukinojo's feminine personality on stage persists in his offstage demeanor; his voice and movements are strangely feminized, yet he turns out to be an indomitable swordsman and a man of sexual charisma for the two real women in the film, one of them the beautiful daughter of his enemy and concubine of the Shogun, the other a beautiful notorious pickpocket and 'boss' of a criminal gang. If that sounds goofy and involuted, don't worry ... in fact the film is goofier and more involuted than a mere synopsis can suggest.

As I said, I'm NOT recommending this film to anyone who hasn't been enchanted by Japanese cinema before, as I have been. I lived in Japan for a year, spent lots of afternoons and evenings at the Kabuki, Bunraku, and Noh theaters of Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. I learned to speak execrable Japanese and to play passable shakuhachi flute. In short, I kinda knew what to expect with this film. Even so, the kinky humor and the lurid atmosphere took me by surprise. It's nowhere near the freakishness of current Japanese and Chinese 'martial arts' films, let alone the total chaos of a Stephen Chow film like "Shaolin Soccer" or "THe God of Cookery". Seen in retrospect, however, it was plainly a harbinger.

I was completely absorbed by this film. The acting, particularly by the main character, was extraordinary. A fascinating glimpse into another culture, another time.

The Klingons say that revenge is a dish best served cold. Well, twenty years is a long time to wait for that dish, but that is the premise behind Kon Ichikawa's Revenge of a Kabuki Actor. As a young boy of seven, Yukinojo Nakamura's family is ruined by greedy businessmen in Nagasaki - his mother driven to suicide, his father driven mad, also taking his own life. Taken in by his uncle, Yuki is groomed for revenge, taking to the stage at the age of twelve in his uncle's kabuki theatre. He becomes an oyama - a kabuki who specializes in female roles - and receives acclaim wherever he goes. Success brings the troup to Edo, where Fate throws him into the path of his enemies.

The three men in question are Sansai Dobe, Kawaguchi-ya, and Hiromi-ya, who have all come to the theatre on the first night of the troupe's run, along with Sansai's beautiful daughter, Namiji, who is one of the Shogun's courtesans. Namiji already has quite a crush on Yuki, and wants nothing more than to meet him. Although her father is not happy about this display of affection for a commoner, he decides that if he allows it, it will burn itself out. So Yuki, with the help of his friend/manager, plots their destruction, slowly and carefully.

Playing witness to the drama that is unfolding are a few thieves who are vying for the position of most wanted thief in Edo. Ohatsu is a hard-bitten female who orders around her partner without mercy - until she falls under Yuki's spell. Yamitaro, who holds the distinction of being most wanted, to Muzuku's dismay, finds himself fascinated by the kabuki actor as well, and is a very interested witness to the revenge as he carries it out. Trouble arrives in the form of Heima Kadokura, who at one time was a pupil in the same dojo as Yuki, who blames the actor for his disgrace and having run away from the dojo years before. Heima fears that the same thing will happen in Edo and he will end up running away again.

This is one amazing film, as Yuki, the brilliant oyama who attracts everyone's attention wherever he goes, spins out his long awaited revenge. When all is said and done, though, is it worth it? Only he can say for sure, as very often the innocent are ensnared with the guilty in those scenarios. The film is presented almost as if we are watching kabuki theatre ourselves; it is reflected in the very staging, and the backgrounds used, often quite minimalist. It is a very beautiful film, very visual, very lovely to behold and very breathtaking.

Kazuo Hasegawa is truly amazing as Yuki. Even off stage, he maintains his appearance as an oyama, and never falters from it, which is reflected in his movements, and his very voice. Even more astonishing, which I never realized as I watched it, Kazuo plays a dual role - not only does he play Yuki, but he plays Yamitaro as well. You will fall for Yuki, I know I did, in his heartbreakingly intense performance. Originally aired in 1963, it has certainly withstood the test of time. If you are a fan of Japanese cinema, don't miss this one. If you are just starting out, this is a great film to begin your enjoyment of the genre.

Look for Shintaro Katsu and Raizo Ichikawa in supporting roles! (Otherwise known as Zatoichi and Nemuri Kyoshimo)!

This is one of the best Japanese old timers. Has depth (soul) to it and can be compared to "Suna no Onna" ("Woman in the Dunes"). There's not much (stupid) running around, fighting and blood shedding, which is great. Simplicity in a movie or in a book, a story, has depth. Simplicity and sincerity is the key. The only problem is some scenes are way too dark, but that's left to one's imagination, and that perhaps is a part of the "enigma" of the movie. Hard life, simple life, happy life, interrupted by imprisonment and release, troubles and relief, then troubles again, yet everything comes to an end, which actually is the beginning to the new life, new troubles again, in a circle, and we can just imagine what's happening beyond the circle. Imagination is beyond what we know, fueled by our knowledge and life experiences. An all-dark movie yet to come out to be released some day... And the statement on the cover of the DVD is not a lie. Although revenge on it's own is not a good thing, yet it's part of life, that very often is made all up of little revenges. We breathe to stay alive, yet we revenge if someone tries to stop us from breathing; even the process of breathing is a certain kind of revenge, a mysterious one. Think about it. And think about all the places and characters that have a deep soul to them, a certain feel that's more than just a concoction of smells, moods, views, climate, sunshine or darkness, its-all-in-your-brain, humidity levels, moods, etc. There's something more to the place, city, country, building, movie, person, object that has depth, a deep soul feel to it, him or her. This movie has soul, more or less.

Watched this series as a child. Raizo Ichikawa is a comsumate actor. So very sorry that he passed away at the young age of 37. He was larger than life. Nobody could take his place. He was the BEST.

Finally this film is available in DVD for us region 1 folks. Prior to Animeigo's DVD, one had to watch a rough transfer on VHS. The folks at Animeigo have not only cleaned up the sound, but they have given us a great looking transfer. Moreover, there are nice extras that can be viewed independent of the movie, or, along with the movie (two sets of different colored subtitles) to inform you about kabuki terms, etc.

Another impressive enhancement to this copy is that they provide subtitles even for background noise or multiples voices. At certain times, voices overlap and yet both voices get subtitles so you can enjoy more of the story.

I've seen this movie now on the big screen, on video, and DVD many times and I must say this DVD copy is quite enjoyable. Most definitely worth owning if you are a fan of Ichikawa or great Japanese cinema -- if Animeigo lets this go out-of-print it will be a great shame.

Finally, I just want to add to other positive reviews of the film. The dialog here is so funny, so crisp that the movie can be enjoyed for both its stunning visuals and smart dialog. The narrator's comments that close the movie stun me every time I watch this. What is the answer!?!