Yukinojô henge

Ichikawa supposedly made this movie "to see what cinema could do." He pulls out all the stops and the result is a masterpiece of visual splendor, wit and style that is stunning as well as very entertaining. The story of a man taking revenge against the people who killed his parents is an old cliched melodrama that was assigned to him. But he turns necessity into a virtue by glorifying the kitsch while at the same time keeping an ironic stance. (don't miss a great visual pun involving a gunshot and a crescent moon.)

He uses the widescreen to full effect in adopting the aesthetics of the Kabuki theater. The sheer visual inventiveness of the movie makes for the best kind of eye candy. There are bold splashes of primary colors and dramatic, very theatrical lighting. Some sets are intentionally artificial-looking while others are not. Somehow the two styles don't clash but instead portray the perfect intermingling of theater and cinema. Similarly, the use of jazz and lounge music(!) seems perfectly appropriate.

Hasegawa, the lead actor, played the same role in a previous version of the movie nearly 30 years earlier. A man who acts like a woman, seducing a woman young enough to be his daughter lends a touch of the bizarre which just makes things more interesting. The movie is graced by Ayako Wakao, at the height of her incredible beauty.

There are some truly beautiful scenes here, particularly the marvellous use of widescreen in the colourful kabuki sequences and Kazuoha Segawa is faultless in the duel central role. He plays dressed as a woman on the stage but seems also to live out his life this way and he also plays his thieving side-kick. Apparently played for laughs throughout it is difficult for a non Japanese to fully appreciate much of the subtlety and Shakespearean style play on words. Indeed, for me, the whole is rather too mannered and stagey. There is much blurring between stage and 'real life' which some find charming but I tend to find rather confusing and lifeless.

A fascinating and painterly film. It often made obvious that it was filmed in a studio. It was very influential and much admired among filmmakers when first released outside of Japan.

Previously filmed in 1935.

Two things to know to better understand the story:

1. Kabuki Actors who specialized in female roles ('onnagata' or 'ayame') used to dress as women even when off the stage. They would wear a piece of purple silk in their hair to hide the area of their scalp that they were required to shave to make them less attractive to other men.

2. Schools of martial arts, painting, etc. were run by a master ('iemoto') whose word was law. Generally each school had secret teachings that were only revealed to selected students as the master's order.

I have seen several hundred Japanese films but am far from an expert on these movies. After all, I am not Japanese and don't always understand some of the subtleties in the pictures. For example, in "An Actor's Revenge", the main character (Yukinojo) is a man who performs as a woman on stage--that I knew and understood. However, he maintained this persona off-stage as well and I wondered just how unusual this was--did other male Kabuki actors also maintain this persona when they weren't acting? If you can answer this question, I would love to hear from you.

The film begins at a Kabuki performance. Yukinojo has recently come to Edo (Tokyo) and has been planning revenge on three scoundrels for many years. It seemed these wicked men were responsible for destroying his family and he sees himself as the instrument of revenge--much like the character in another famous Japanese film, "Lady Snowblood". However, he doesn't want to just stab them--he wants to have them linger and give him a chance to revel in their destruction. Part of it, however, depends on using the daughter of one of these wicked men--and the lady is innocent of causing any harm to anyone. What's Yukinojo to do? And, what is he to do when several ancillary characters blunder or wander into his plans?

There were several things I liked about the film. First, the various thieves who were no necessary to the film helped to give the film greater depth and, in an odd way, fun. Second, the film was made in many ways like the entire production was ALL part of a play. Often, using interesting lighting and sets, it looked as if the line between the off-stage and on-stage was often blurred. It made the film truly memorable. Overall, well worth seeing and gloriously artistic.

Yukinojo Henge, or "An Actors Revenge" in English can be appreciated on a number of different levels. First of all there is the intricate plans of revenge the kabuki actor main character carries out against those who had been responsible for his parents deaths. Secondly one can enjoy it as a period piece. Those interested in Tokugawa Period Japan will enjoy critiquing the historical accuracy of the film. However what really separates this movie from other tales of revenge and intrigue is in its playfulness.

The movie was considered a tribute to the actor who played the part of the lead. It was Kazuo Hasegawa's 300th role and the movie was a remake of the 1935 film of the same name. In many scenes you can see Hasegawa injecting himself as an actor into the movie. These can usually be picked up only if one is somewhat familiar with the behind the scenes aspects of the film. If one is aware that Hasegawa is not only playing the main character, but also that of Yamitaro the thief then there are certain parts of the dialogue that take on a new meaning.

One example of this is when Hasegawa playing the thief witnesses Hasegawa playing Yukinojo Nakamura lying to his love interest and pawn Namiji. After seeing this Yamitaro comments to himself, and also to the audience, that Nakamura is such a great actor, referring to his lies, that he shouldn't be wasting his time with his kabuki troop. Since we as viewers are aware that we are seeing a movie, as well as being aware that the one being commented on is the same as the one doing the commenting, we can see this as Hasegawa making his presence as the actor Hasegawa known. He is essentially complimenting himself saying, "I am such a great actor, why am I wasting my time doing this movie?" There are a couple more instances of similar playfulness between the three part relationship of Hasegawa as Hasegawa the actor in the reality of the film audience, Hasegawa as Nakamura the actor in the reality of the characters, and Hasegawa as Yamitaro. In one scene Yamitaro explains that the reason he is aiding Nakamura in his quest is because he has come to feel a kinship with him as if he were his brother, again playing on the audience's knowledge that the two "brothers" are played by the same person.

Another example of how playful the film is can be seen in its cinematography. The main character is a kabuki onnagata, or a male actor who specializes in playing female roles. There are a couple of scenes in the movie that play up on this fact and shoot the movie in a fashion that provides the audience with the feeling that they are watching a kabuki play. In one example there is a swordfight in a forest. Even though the movie is made in the 1960s when it would have been very possible to have realistic looking backgrounds, the trees do not look real at all. This makes the forest in which they are fighting feel more like a theater set than an authentic landscape. During this swordfight an onlooker says to herself that it is better than watching one on a kabuki stage. Since the audience is aware of the fake scenery, the characters role as an onnagata, and some would even know that the actor himself was once an onnagata, the comment takes on a whole new life than were it an onlooker in a basic action movie watching a scene and saying, "wow that was even cooler than in the movies!" With all of these inside jokes between the actors and the film audience that the characters are not aware of, the movie becomes much more interactive and thus more enjoyable for someone looking for a fun multi-layered movie.