TABOO (Gohatto) (director/writer: Nagisa Oshima; screenwriter: based on two short stories by Ryotaro Shiba; cinematographer: Toyomichi Kurita; editor: Tomoyo Oshima; cast: Beat Takeshi Kitano (Lt. Commander Toshizo Hijikata), Tadanobu Asano (Samurai Hyozo Tashiro), Koji Matoba (Samurai Heibei Sugano), Ryuhei Matsuda (Kano), Yoichi Sai (Commander Isami Kondo), Jiro Sakagami (Lt. Genzaburo), Shinji Takeda (Lt. Okita), Kei Sato (Narrator), Tomorowo Taguchi (Samurai Tojiro Yuzawa); Runtime: 101; New Yorker Release; 2000-Japan/France/UK)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A brilliantly stylized period piece set in Kyoto in 1865, during the final days of the samurais. It's written and directed by the great Japanese filmmaker, Nagisa Oshima (In the Realm of the Senses/Empire of Passion/Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence). This is the 69-year-old filmmaker's first feature in 14 years and the first since the 1995 minor stroke which left him part-paralysed on his right side. He directed this powerful film, which explores homosexuality in the ranks of the military, from a wheelchair. It also relates to the affects of uncontrollable passion with death, as it explores how jealousy among men lovers can be deadly.
Taboo has a dreamlike quality to it that is spellbinding as it creates an eerie blue mood and makes the characters glow with a haunting feeling that this tale is taking place in the afterworld. Its tale is focused on a new recruit to the Shinsen militia, who seeks to become a samurai warrior. He's an effeminate and beautiful 18-year-old, a rich merchant's son named Sozaburo Kano (Ryuhei Matsuda). The militia he joins puts down insurrections, maintains order among the clans, and protects the shogun. At the same time he joins, another recruit -- Hyozo Tashiro (Tadanobu Asano), a commoner, also becomes a samurai. They are selected by Commander Isami Kondo (Yoichi Sai) and his Lieutenant Commander, Captain Toshizo Hijikata (Takeshi Kitano). Kano is very appealing because of his boyish locks of hair and sensual and regal mannerisms, and his great ability as a warrior; his stunning looks attracts everyone's attention. In history, the Shinsen militia was renown for its ruthless code of conduct, its violent use of force, and its open homosexuality.
The plot revolves around the lust among the men for him, as he joins them in the barracks. The first to have a whack at him is Tashiro, who cuddles up to him in their sleeping quarters and gets him from behind as Kano passively says nothing but appears to not be stimulated by the rape. But he rebuffs his advances to be lovers, even as he says that he never has known a woman's caresses. His superiors, Kondo and Hijikata, take an obsessive interest in him and act concerned that there is a jealousy among the men over him, thinking this will spoil the militia's unity (the U.S. Army might have the same homosexual dilemma in mind when they initiated their policy of: don't ask, don't tell).
To test his courage, the new recruit is ordered to carry out a beheading of a fellow sumarai who broke the strict rules of conduct. Kano executes him without any hesitation and with an efficiency that greatly pleases his superiors. Later, he is ordered to kill Tashiro, whom his superiors suspect of being his lover and of being overly jealous that Kano is seeing other men. He does that assignment without one peep of protest. The superiors further connive to find ways to deal with this situation, as Hijikata orders a sergeant to get him a geisha girl. But Kano refuses to sleep with her, saying he prefers the sergeant. The commanders discuss between them all the rumors surrounding Kano and his lovers, as the film concocts a bitter story about a possessed young man who joined the militia so he can kill freely. He's an individual who is now faced with resolving what he narcissistically has attracted.
The film is an ambiguous one. Its look at homosexuality is also a look at how others look at it, and what we know about that is seen in the expressions made. It examines the violence that goes with a sex that is against the law. The most mysterious scene comes at the end, when we look into Takeshi Kitano's face (his is the most expressive one and perhaps, even though he's a heterosexual, the one who is most jealous of Kano) -- and follow his emotional thrusts as he cuts down a cherry tree in bloom with his sword at his anger over what he believes he sees in Kano and in himself. The film ends without a clarity to what Kano or the commanders were going through internally. It works best as poetry, as it seems to connect the beauty of Kano with an inherent evil he possesses to draw those to him who are willing to die for their desires. It's the closest we might come to decifering what all the ambiguity meant, as each one's perception might differ as to what beauty is and what price they are willing to pay for it. A thoroughly maddening work from arguably Japan's best living director.
REVIEWED ON 7/11/2001 GRADE: A -
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
========== X-RAMR-ID: 28801 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 236414 X-RT-TitleID: 1101319 X-RT-SourceID: 873 X-RT-AuthorID: 1315 X-RT-RatingText: A-
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews