"Sang-il Lee's film tells a compelling story about friendship, the weight of history, the quest for perfection and the torturous road to becoming a living national treasure which is what the word "kokuho" means. When we first meet the hero, Kikuo, he's 14 and playing a female role in an excerpt from a famous Kabuki play."
"Hanai takes him in as a protege, teaching him to become an onnagata a male actor who plays female roles. There is one snag. Hanai already has a son of the same age, Shunsuke, who is slated to be his artistic heir, and, in the Kabuki world, artistic status passes from generation to generation."
"Yet as they share the sometimes cruel ordeal of their training, they become friends and acting partners. Each sees how the other is trapped. Despite his fanatical dedication, Kikuo is considered a low-born outsider complete with a yakuza tattoo on his back that the hidebound Kabuki culture doesn't want to accept."
Kokuho is a nearly three-hour epic film set in the world of Kabuki, Japan's 400-year-old theatrical form. The story follows Kikuo, a talented 14-year-old who catches the attention of Kabuki star Hanai after his yakuza father's murder. Hanai takes Kikuo as a protege to train him as an onnagata, a male actor playing female roles. Kikuo must navigate the rigid Kabuki hierarchy alongside Hanai's biological son Shunsuke, who is the designated artistic heir. Despite initial rivalry expectations, the two become friends and partners through their shared training ordeal. Kikuo faces discrimination as a low-born outsider with a yakuza tattoo, while Shunsuke struggles with the burden of inherited status. The film explores themes of friendship, artistic dedication, historical weight, and the torturous path to becoming a living national treasure.
Read at www.npr.org
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