Yukinojo henge (1963)

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
La rivincita di Yuki-no-jo (Italy) [it]
La venganza de un actor (Argentina) [es]
La vengeance d'un acteur (France) [fr]
Yukinojôs Rache - Von Dämonen verzauberte Schneemacht (West Germany) [de]

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)

A vibrant, theatrical film with a forgettable story but impressive style

This is an Ichikawa film so expect anything short of sheer visual awesomeness and yer a fool. Impeccably staged, superbly lighted and shot with remarkable flair for atmosphere, this one deserves a watch on its technical cinematic merits alone. The plot relates the adventures of a Kabuki stage actor plotting revenge against those who disgraced and drove his parents to madness and suicide, apparently a readaptation of a 30's movie. Everything is very campy though and the protagonist, a feminine man with a pathetic croaky voice dressed in woman's clothes, is bound to induce a fair amount of groans. Obviously related to the material at hand, Ichikawa stages and shoots the movie in a stylized theatrical manner. The intentional artificiality of sets and lighting perfectly mirrors that. Perhaps the best thing about it is the use of colour, with bright reds, yellows and whites offering a vibrant counterbalance to the almost complete darkness of other set-pieces. All in all, I didn't find the dramaturgy of the film very involving and I suspect Ichikawa didn't care for it either. From a technical standpoint however it is certainly commendable.