Yukinojôs Rache – Von Dämonen verzauberte Schneemacht (1963)

Yukinojôs Rache – Von Dämonen verzauberte Schneemacht: Directed by Kon Ichikawa. With Kazuo Hasegawa, Fujiko Yamamoto, Ayako Wakao, Eiji Funakoshi. Yukinojo, a Kabuki actor, seeks revenge by destroying the three men who caused the deaths of his parents. Also involved are the daughter of one of Yukinojo’s targets, two master thieves, and a swordsman who himself is out to kill Yukinojo.

“Revenge of a Kabuki Actor (1963) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e*** (out of 4) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJapanese 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 Martinu0026#39;s review a week or so ago and I canu0026#39;t say I enjoyed the film as much as he did but it was a visual treat and Iu0026#39;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 itu0026#39;s that it took me nearly fifty-minutes to really get caught up in the story. Iu0026#39;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.”