Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46693 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-01-27
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 108 minutes

Special Features
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Japanese
English

Synopsis
Perhaps director Kon Ichikawa's most stylistically inventive film, AN ACTOR'S REVENGE was adapted from a newspaper serial written by Otokichi Mikami and stars Kazuo Hasegawa as Yukinojo Nakamura, a celebrated "oyama," or female impersonator, working with the Ichimura kabuki troupe in 1836 Edo. During a performance one night, he catches sight of Sansai Dobe (Ganjiro Nakamura), the magistrate who ordered the murder of the actor's father years before. Despite the objections of his teacher, Yukinojo is intent on taking revenge not only against Dobe but against Kawaguchiya (Saburo Date) and Kokaiya (Eijaro Yanagi), businessmen who were also involved in the crime. He intends to begin by seducing Dobe's daughter Namiji (Ayako Wakao), but when she falls in love with him after seeing him on the stage, Yukinojo begins to approach his plan differently. With rice in short supply, Kawaguchiya has tried to corner the market to best business rival Kokaiya. Yukinojo uses the situation to play the two off one another, resulting in successive tragedies for Kawaguchiya. Kokaiya's next action takes everyone by surprise. Ichikawa weds visual and narrative elements of the Kabuki theater to the conventional revenge plot in a coruscating ballet of light, color, and action.

Customer Reviews

visual feast
As the film notes say, this was a bizarre project - a remake of a 1935 film, with the actor Hasegawa playing the same roles 30 years later.. both a kabuki female impersonator and a thief. The main story is a tragedy (look out for the Garden of Gethsemane moment)interwoven with a comedy sub-plot.
Don't expect realism - there is a strong theatrical feel to the visuals, which I think works extremely well with the plot/subject matter, and there is much hamming up in the comedy acting. Given a difficult task, director Kon Ichikawa constructed a highly creative, somewhat surreal solution, within which there are some intensely moving moments.
I found this film stunning to watch; some of the scenes reminded me of Japanese prints, and I had to watch it again the next day, pausing it frequently just to take in the costumes and sets. Even the make-up and facial expressions echo the actor prints of the early 19th century.