Kon Ichikawa-Yukinojo henge ('An Actor's Revenge') (1963)

This wildly melodramatic tale of a kabuki female impersonator who exacts a long-delayed revenge on the men who drove his parents to suicide is played out against a backdrop of comic rivalries between thieves in the Tokyo underworld. Kazuo Hasegawa plays the dual role of the actor and the thief in a film which celebrates his 300th screen appearance. A heady mixture of swooning romanticism and stylised action, with a soundtrack that ranges from traditional Japanese music to lush Hollywood strings and cocktail jazz, An Actor's Revenge is a cinematic tour de force. BFI




Perhaps director Kon Ichikawa's most stylistically inventive film, AN ACTOR'S REVENGE was adapted from a newspaper serial written by Otokichi Mikami and stars Kazuo Hasegawa as Yukinojo Nakamura, a celebrated "oyama," or female impersonator, working with the Ichimura kabuki troupe in 1836 Edo. During a performance one night, he catches sight of Sansai Dobe (Ganjiro Nakamura), the magistrate who ordered the murder of the actor's father years before. Despite the objections of his teacher, Yukinojo is intent on taking revenge not only against Dobe but against Kawaguchiya (Saburo Date) and Kokaiya (Eijaro Yanagi), businessmen who were also involved in the crime. He intends to begin by seducing Dobe's daughter Namiji (Ayako Wakao), but when she falls in love with him after seeing him on the stage, Yukinojo begins to approach his plan differently. With rice in short supply, Kawaguchiya has tried to corner the market to best business rival Kokaiya. Yukinojo uses the situation to play the two off one another, resulting in successive tragedies for Kawaguchiya. Kokaiya's next action takes everyone by surprise. Ichikawa weds visual and narrative elements of the Kabuki theater to the conventional revenge plot in a coruscating ballet of light, color, and action. (amazon.com)




This film is a remake for the 1935 film, also starring Kazuo Hasegawa in the title role. A little background is necessary for this film. First, Kabuki was actually created by women for women, and it is known for its theatrical style. The use of elaborate costumes, beautiful stage sets, and terrific virtuoso performers are all part of Kabuki plays. However, in 1629 females were outlawed from performing, and men took over the role. Even today, men play the female roles, known as onnagata. Kabuki itself derives from three words: ka (music), bu (dance), and ki (acting). (amazon.com)




While performing in a touring kabuki troupe, leading female impersonator Yukinojo comes across the three men who drove his parents to suicide twenty years earlier, and plans his revenge, firstly by seducing the daughter of one of them, secondly by ruining them… (http://imdb.com/title/tt0057710/plotsummary)