Kokuho Review: Ken Watanabe Anchors A Stunning Kabuki Drama That’s A Feast For The Eyes

Kokuho (M18)

Starring Ryo Yoshizawa, Ryusei Yokohama, Ken Watanabe

Directed by Lee Sang-il

The son of a yakuza crime boss goes against history, tradition and prejudice to take over the coveted position of the main actor of a prestigious kabuki-acting family from its preordained heir.

Now, the painted, powdered veil hanging over this austere, precision-performing Japanese drama, Kokuho (meaning: “national treasure”), lasts almost three hours.

Leaving you not really knowing who the central figure — a man playing a woman in the male dancers (onnagata)-only tradition of the classical theatre drama — truly is. A show about a show not showing everything.

Kikuo Tachibana (Gintama’s Ryo Yoshizawa), the mobster's actor-son witnesses his father's murder in a gangland attack during a New Year’s banquet in Nagasaki in 1964.

After botching his revenge attempt, he relocates to Osaka to start anew by training in torturous, disciplined kabuki under a renowned master, Hanjiro Hanai (Ken Watanabe), who recognises Kikuo’s potential in becoming the best theatre actor in Japan. The mentor trains the apprentice together with his own less-gifted son, Shunsuke (Ryuhei Yokohama), who becomes Kikuo’s best friend while bonding in coaching pain. Great scenes of teacher abuse here.

Shunsuke, rightfully, expects to succeed his dad’s name. Ain’t happening, dude. Daddy’s a purist about talent. Not a traditionalist sticking to lineage which angers his wife. The distraught son runs away.

Very mysterious-Oriental fascinating. But is Kikuo an ambitious usurper of a historical bloodline, a misunderstood genius, an artiste who has sold his soul, or is he just a lucky chap getting crucial help when it matters?

Wise old men take a shine to this inchoate lad. Things fall into his lap at first without manipulation. Until he makes a grab for the crown as the intruder-master-to-be in a really kicking handover ceremony.

But we still can’t tell what this fella’s about because he looks pretty normal before pivoting into a I-want-it-all mode. The film, in customary Japanese-movie fashion, misses a few transforming steps despite having all the time in the world.

At what point was this main man struck by a dark epiphany? Frustrating not to spot it.

“I was making a deal with the devil, not with God,” Kikuo reveals to his little daughter, Ayano, whom he abandons abruptly before seducing a gullible young woman to get his way. Huh? Since when?

To be fair, an elderly national-treasure kokuho warns him that “your beautiful face might consume you”. Which is something I thought relics in makeup usually, ominously say. I may be wrong.

The original cut reportedly ran for four-and-a-half hours. And both heterosexual, zero-gay-undertone best pals — they party with geishas — and the kids who play their younger selves look sorta alike. So don’t doze off if you’re not into guy-gals.

Which you won’t when the powder's plastered on. Because both real actors playing stage actors — Yoshizawa and Yokohama — are so amazing as a painted pair we’re talking about lucrative side gigs next.

The plot, spanning 50 years of upheaval, soul bros break-up, rise and fall, condemnation and redemption, centres primarily on Kikuo’s genius skill being his saving grace and bailout with the script trying apparently to make him seem more than who he is.

FYI. Women have virtually no big play in this play about men playing women. Hanjiro’s upset missus. Kikuo’s geisha-wife. His hometown girlfriend. They lurk in the shadows of wondrous colours.

It all feels kinda elusive and unclear as destiny mixes with serendipity, theatre with spectre, class with crass. Or maybe this is just the Nihon way of projecting unreachable inscrutability.

But make no mistake. This pic is a truly sumptuous spectacle. An utter visual marvel to behold, directed by Japanese-born Korean Lee Sang-il (Villain, Rage) based on a 2018 novel by Shuichi Oshida, that was nominated for a Best Makeup and Hairstyling award at this year’s Oscars.

Kokuho is both a front row seat and behind-the-curtains peek into a life-as-art dramatic journey ending on a mesmerising, colour-flooded stage. Where pinpoint head tilts, darting eyes, unforgiving body bends become the quaint palette onto which folktale lovers, spirits, even besotted herons express sad, subtle emotions of forbidden fruit and unrequited love.

We are as transported as we are captivated. “I clapped at the end,” the estranged Ayano (Kumi Takiuchi) tells her father, hating him but loving his craft.

There are knowables and unknowables here.

But we’re dazzled by everything that’s see-able. (3.5/5 stars) Exclusively at Shaw Theatres

Photo: Shaw Organisation