Revenge of a Kabuki Actor (1963)
*** (out of 4)
Japanese film about a Kabuki actor (Kazuo Hasegawa) specializing playing female roles who gets a shot at seeking revenge against the three men he feels responsible for his parents deaths. The first part of his plan is to get one of their daughters (Ayako Wakao) to fall in love with him. I had never heard of this film before reading Martin's review a week or so ago and I can't say I enjoyed the film as much as he did but it was a visual treat and I'm glad I caught up with it. On a visual level this thing is damn near a masterpiece with some terrific cinematography as well as some very imaginative shots and ways to tell a story. There are many scenes that pop out but one of the most memorable features Hasegawa playing the actor as well as the thief. The thief climbs up on a roof to talk about the actor as we then get a shot of the actor walking away. I think this segment could have and would have come off quite silly in ninety-nine movies out of a hundred but this is the one case where it works perfectly. Hasegawa himself is brilliant in his role as it really seemed like he was a woman. While watching him trying to seduce the young woman there were many times where I forgot he was a man and this added an even more surreal nature to the film. I was also highly impressed with Wakao. The opening sequence on the stage is another treat for the eyes. If I had one problem with the film it's that it took me nearly fifty-minutes to really get caught up in the story. I'm sure a second viewing would probably take care of this but it did take me a while to take in everything that was going on.
*** (out of 4)
Japanese film about a Kabuki actor (Kazuo Hasegawa) specializing playing female roles who gets a shot at seeking revenge against the three men he feels responsible for his parents deaths. The first part of his plan is to get one of their daughters (Ayako Wakao) to fall in love with him. I had never heard of this film before reading Martin's review a week or so ago and I can't say I enjoyed the film as much as he did but it was a visual treat and I'm glad I caught up with it. On a visual level this thing is damn near a masterpiece with some terrific cinematography as well as some very imaginative shots and ways to tell a story. There are many scenes that pop out but one of the most memorable features Hasegawa playing the actor as well as the thief. The thief climbs up on a roof to talk about the actor as we then get a shot of the actor walking away. I think this segment could have and would have come off quite silly in ninety-nine movies out of a hundred but this is the one case where it works perfectly. Hasegawa himself is brilliant in his role as it really seemed like he was a woman. While watching him trying to seduce the young woman there were many times where I forgot he was a man and this added an even more surreal nature to the film. I was also highly impressed with Wakao. The opening sequence on the stage is another treat for the eyes. If I had one problem with the film it's that it took me nearly fifty-minutes to really get caught up in the story. I'm sure a second viewing would probably take care of this but it did take me a while to take in everything that was going on.