
Hanbei (Arata Furuta), the boss of the labor agency Fujitsuboya is known to the underworld as the leader of the 'Last Rite Givers' (Indouya), an organization that deals with disposing of criminals for the sake of the people and society. However, in reality, he is merely a timid and mild-mannered man, too gentle to even harm a fly, whose fearsome appearance is what earned him his position. In both his public and secret life, the true leader is his wife, Oise. One day, a wandering assassin known as the 'mad dog', Yoiyami Ginji (Taichi Saotome), appears—someone who will kill anyone, regardless of who they are, as long as the price is right. Under the orders of the 'Black Blade' gang, who aim to destroy the 'Last Rite Givers' and monopolize the underground business, Ginji awaits to ambush and kill Hanbei. However, at that moment, as if by the curse of the 'Tengosei' star, a violent lightning strike causing the bodies of Hanbei and Ginji to switch.
5.2An onnagata (female impersonator) of a Kabuki troupe avenges his parents' deaths. Remade in 1963 as Yukinojô Henge.
5.6A streetwise New York police officer transforms into the world's most unusual superhuman hero.
7.8In late 19th century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that he is only praised for his acting due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated by this, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully follows him.
7.1An aging actor returns to a small town with his troupe and reunites with his former lover and illegitimate son, a scenario that enrages his current mistress and results in heartbreak for all.
6.6In Edo Japan, a kabuki actor seeks revenge against the three men who drove his parents to their deaths years ago.
6.7Air Force Major Lloyd Gruver is reassigned to a Japanese air base and is confronted with US racial prejudice against the Japanese people. The issue is compounded because a number of the soldiers become romantically involved with Japanese women, in defiance of US military policy. Ordinarily, a by-the-book officer, Gruver must take a position when a buddy of his, an enlisted man, Joe Kelly, falls in love with a Japanese woman, Katsumi, and marries her. Gruver risks his position by serving as best man at the wedding ceremony.
0.0Nezumi, Jack the Mouse is a Japanese urban legend. His passion for money drives a cynical, duplicitous coffin maker to take on Nezumi’s mantle. In this kaleidoscope of disguise and deception, society’s pretenses are destroyed in a melting pot of farce, social satire and courtroom drama. The mighty are brought low to everyone’s delight. Contemporary theatre genius Hideki Noda collaborates with Kabuki theatre at the invitation of celebrated actor Kanzaburo.
6.5Based on a true incident, this is a timeless story of a hot-headed young man who rebels against his parents and is forced into desperate straits, eventually losing himself in madness.
8.6Nagasaki, 1964: Following the death of his yakuza father, 15-year-old Kikuo is taken under the wing of a famous kabuki actor. Alongside Shunsuke, the actor’s only son, he decides to dedicate himself to this traditional form of theatre. For decades, the two young men grow and evolve together – and one will become the greatest Japanese master of the art of kabuki.
7.5In Edo-era Japan, a ukiyo-e artist languishes in his master’s shadow. Creatively stifled, he finds consolation in the company of a prostitute, and becomes entangled in a love triangle. A mystery emerges involving two portraits and the sudden disappearance of the artist Sharaku. Helmed by Cannes-selected director Tatsuji Yamazaki, the film employs kabuki-inspired sequences and stylised sets.
0.0Two young swordsmen, Akado Suzunosuke and Tatsumaki Rainoshin, arrive at the city of Edo in their quest to test and improve their skills. Soon they become involved in a conflict against a mysterious group of demonic criminals led by the king of hell, Taira no Masakado — a strugle to which both were destined since the moment they were born.
[…] A reel was shot of the Noh drama Momiji-gari (Maple Leaf Hunters, or Viewing Scarlet Maple Leaves), in which Danjuro played opposite Onoe Kikugoro V (1844-1903) as an ogress who has disguised herself as the Princess Sarashina. Filmed by Shibata Tsunekichi in the open air on a windy day in November 1899, Danjuro would allow only the one take, so that when his fan blew away in mid-performance the scene had to stay. The film re-emerged at the Kikikan theatre in 1907 where it was a great success and inspired a wave of fiction filmmaking based on traditional Japanese narratives. (cont. http://victorian-cinema.net/danjuro)
