Gonza, der Lanzenkämpfer (1986)

Gonza, der Lanzenkämpfer: Directed by Masahiro Shinoda. With Hiromi Gô, Shima Iwashita, Shôhei Hino, Misako Tanaka. The tragic story of Gonza, a handsome ladies man, set in the Tokagawa Period, a time in which appearences are very important. Gonza competes with Bannojo for the honor to perform the tea ceremony to celebrate the birth of an heir to the lord of their clan. To see the sacred tea scrolls Gonza promises to marry the daughter of the family which possesses them, even though he is unofficially engaged to another. When studying the scrolls with Osai, the mother of the house, Bannajo sneaks into the house and steals their obis and runs through the town proclaiming the two as adulterers.

“Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), a bunraku (puppet theater) and kabuki playwright is rightly called the Japanese Shakespeare. This movie u0026#39;Yari no Gonzau0026#39; by Masahiro Shinoda is based on a bunraku play by him. However, the main character here is rather more a well-known French one than a Shakepearean one. Chikamatsu Monzaemon painted a remarkable portrait of a ruthlessly ambitious and amoral character: a young samurai, who through his good looks tries to force his way up into the Edo hierarchy. During the Edo period (17th – 19th century), Japan was controlled by a shogun, a chief military commander, and his vassals, the diamiōs (feudal lords). Gonza is the alter ego of Julien Sorel, the (anti)hero in the novel u0026#39;The Red and The Blacku0026#39; by Stendhal and of the perfidious u0026#39;Bel- Amiu0026#39; in Guy de Maupassantu0026#39;s book, both blinded by career prospects. Taeko Tomioka transcribed the u0026#39;puppetu0026#39; story for the screen into a very appealing realistic and twisted thriller. Hiromi Gô in the main role and the exquisitely glamorous Shima Iwashita as Osai (the u0026#39;adulteressu0026#39;) shine in an outstanding cast . A masterpiece.”