Kazuo Hasegawa, acclaimed as the greatest player of female roles in kabuki, makes his debut in Tokyo. However, his purpose is to seek vengeance on the three men who caused his parents' deaths:. In so doing he will also cause the death of Ayako Wakao, the shogun's favorite concubine, and captivate the leading thieves of the capital.
To celebrate Hasegawa's 300th movie role, director Kon Ichikawa drew extensively on kabuki imagery and technique. He did it to such an extent that I cannot say whether he did so successfully, or simply dazzled me with unfamiliar technique. I lack the experience with kabuki to judge. Yet this revenge drama made me think of Olivier's movie version of HAMLET, or his previous movie as director and star, HENRY V, which roamed from stage to verisimilitudinous location shooting and back again. Olivier's technique as director in that movie is likewise dazzling, yet it had a clear purpose at the time, to draw a parallel from the artificial world of the stage to its linkage to the current events of World War II and the relationship between art and reality.
All of which leaves me still in the dark as to the efficacy of Ichikawa's choices. Was he attempting to draw similar parallels to his Japanese audience, or having gone down the path of such imagery, trapped by those choices? It is common for people to assume success in such artistic choices, but great artists make mistakes, and because of their histories, are automatically assumed to have succeeded, even by those who might have the understanding to deny such success.
I lack the arrogance to claim either success or failure, or something in between with this movie; my ignorance is too great. Yet, regardless of that question, there are some great images here, and a reasonable acquaintance with the English revenge drama is little basis for judging a Japanese one. And with that, I shall leave my musings.
To celebrate Hasegawa's 300th movie role, director Kon Ichikawa drew extensively on kabuki imagery and technique. He did it to such an extent that I cannot say whether he did so successfully, or simply dazzled me with unfamiliar technique. I lack the experience with kabuki to judge. Yet this revenge drama made me think of Olivier's movie version of HAMLET, or his previous movie as director and star, HENRY V, which roamed from stage to verisimilitudinous location shooting and back again. Olivier's technique as director in that movie is likewise dazzling, yet it had a clear purpose at the time, to draw a parallel from the artificial world of the stage to its linkage to the current events of World War II and the relationship between art and reality.
All of which leaves me still in the dark as to the efficacy of Ichikawa's choices. Was he attempting to draw similar parallels to his Japanese audience, or having gone down the path of such imagery, trapped by those choices? It is common for people to assume success in such artistic choices, but great artists make mistakes, and because of their histories, are automatically assumed to have succeeded, even by those who might have the understanding to deny such success.
I lack the arrogance to claim either success or failure, or something in between with this movie; my ignorance is too great. Yet, regardless of that question, there are some great images here, and a reasonable acquaintance with the English revenge drama is little basis for judging a Japanese one. And with that, I shall leave my musings.