Kokuho

Not Rated • Theaters

Kokuho combines classical Kabuki theater with captivating storytelling and visually appealing scenes. In its native Japan, the film has become the highest-grossing live-action movie of all time.

The film begins in 1964 in Nagasaki—a time when authorities prohibited women from acting—with 14-year-old Kikuo, the son of a gang leader, performing in a Kabuki play. After a rival gang kills Kikuo’s father, the renowned actor Hanjiro (Ken Watanabe) takes in the boy, training him and Shunsuke, Hanjiro’s son who is the same age as Kikuo, to be onnagata, male actors who play female roles, an aspect of the traditional artform that dates back centuries.

Kokuho—translated as “national treasure,” an official designation for excellent artisans and performers—traces Kikuo’s decades-long pursuit to be the best actor as his friendship and rivalry with Shunsuke develop. Ryô Yoshizawa, who plays adult Kikuo, delivers an engaging performance in the film that portrays both the allure and the emptiness of reaching the pinnacle of one’s craft. In one scene, an assistant speaking about a retired top onnagata says, “He’ll leave nothing except his art when he dies.”

Kokuho interweaves characters’ lives with scenes they perform from various plays that contain elements of wisteria or a heron transforming into a maiden, unrequited love, and lovers’ suicides. Beyond sparse stage sets and elaborate costumes, the film takes viewers into Kabuki actors’ strict training, how they advance through the ranks, and the desperation of some who live and die for the art.

Running five minutes short of three hours, Kokuho can feel a bit long. It also contains some depictions of sex and violence. Still, it’s an aesthetically moving film about art and ambition.