Yukinojo henge (1963)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Kon Ichikawa

Writers:

Daisuke Itô (adaptation)
Teinosuke Kinugasa (adapt)

Release Date:

16 June 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

While performing in a touring kabuki troupe, leading female impersonator Yukinojo comes across the three...

Plot Keywords:

Kabuki | Jidai Geki | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Kazuo Hasegawa	...	Yukinojo Nakamura / Yamitaro the Thief
Fujiko Yamamoto	...	Ohatsu
Ayako Wakao	...	Namiji
Eiji Funakoshi	...	Heima Kadokura
Narutoshi Hayashi	...	Mukuzu
Eijirô Yanagi	...	Hiromi-ya
Chûsha Ichikawa	...	Kikunojo Nakamura
Ganjiro Nakamura	...	Sansai Dobe
Saburo Date	...	Kawaguchi-ya
Jun Hamamura	...	Isshosai
Kikue Môri	...	Cruel Old Woman
Masayoshi Kikuno	...	Yukinojo's Father
Raizô Ichikawa	...	Hirutaro
Shintarô Katsu	...	Hojin
Yutaka Nakayama	...	Townsman

Also Known As:

An Actor's Revenge (USA)
Revenge of a Kabuki Actor
The Revenge of Ukeno-Jo
The Revenge of Yuki-No-Jo

Runtime:

113 min | Argentina:115 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | UK:PG

Company:

Daiei Studios

Trivia:

Originally designed as a tribute to actor Kazuo Hasegawa, whose 300th film this was. The film was based Teinosuke Kinugasa's Yukinojo henge (1935) which also starred Hasegawa in the same dual role.

Movie Connections:

Version of Yukinojo henge (1935)

Kabuki in a kabuki

This movie is that rare species - a film that doesn't take itself seriously for a moment, and yet is stunningly well made and original.

According to Donald Richies '100 Years of Japanese Cinema' the director was forced to make this movie (the remake of a popular but very hammy 1930's original) as a punishment for his self indulgence in earlier movies. He responded by turning up the campiness to '11' in Spinal Tap terms.

Kon Ichikawa manages to take the story of a famous Kabuki female impersonator who wrecks revenge on three powerful men who killed his parents both beautiful (the scenery and photography is stunning) and queasy - everyone seems to fall in love with the rather ugly and very feminine leading 'man'. The story is irrelevant (presumably deliberately so), its all an exercise in style. You can see where Suzuki and many other later directors got a lot of their ideas. Kon is a very talented and skillful film maker so despite the fact that the cast are clearly playing it up for laughs, it is extremely well made, with wonderful sets and tight editing. Despite its origins, it is genuinely entertaining and required viewing for anyone with an interest in Kabuki or Japanese design.