Gonza - keihäsmies

Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), a bunraku (puppet theater) and kabuki playwright is rightly called the Japanese Shakespeare. This movie 'Yari no Gonza' 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 'The Red and The Black' by Stendhal and of the perfidious 'Bel- Ami' in Guy de Maupassant's book, both blinded by career prospects. Taeko Tomioka transcribed the 'puppet' 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 'adulteress') shine in an outstanding cast . A masterpiece.