Metrograph

For the grand occasion of his 300th film role, star Kazuo Hasegawa revisited material that had been a hit for him back in 1935’s Yukinojō henge, here playing both Yamitarō, a cynical thief who provides a running commentary on the events of the film, and Yukitarō, an onnagata (female impersonator) in the kabuki theater who coolly plots his revenge on the men responsible for his parents’ deaths. Ichikawa, who co-wrote the screenplay with wife Natto Wada, renders this late Edo era-set period thriller through jaw-dropping widescreen compositions and delirious color, this rush of pure cinema grounded by Hasegawa’s remarkable, genderfluid performance(s).

Distributor: Janus Films