Taboo

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• Movie: Taboo
• Romaji: Gohatto
• Japanese: 御法度
• Director: Nagisa Oshima
• Writer: Ryotaro Shiba (novel), Nagisa Oshima
• Producer: Shigehiro Nakagawa, Eiko Oshima, Kazuo Shimizu
• Cinematography: Toyomichi Kurita
• Release Date: December 18, 1999
• Runtime: 104 Min.
• Distributor: Shochiku
• Language: Japanese
• Country: Japan

Plot

The movie takes place in Kyoto around 1865, in the last days of traditional samurai. Threatened by new kinds of fighting, new channels of power and the opening of the country to the West, the men of the Shinsen-gumi troop adhere all the more rigidly to the samurai code, even enforcing death as a punishment for severe violations. It is strange that a candidate as effeminate as Sozaburo would be one of two finalists chosen after sword-fighting auditions, but then again there is a look in the eye of Capt. Hijikata (Beat Takeshi) that hints of hidden agendas.

Cast

Takeshi Kitano - Captain Toshizo Hijikata Ryuhei Matsuda - Samurai Sozaburo Kano Shinji Takeda - Lieutenant Soji Okita Tadanobu Asano - Samurai Hyozo Tashiro Koji Matoba - Samurai Heibei Sugano Masa Tommies - Inspector Jo Yamazaki Masato Ibu - Officer Koshitaro Ito Uno Kanda - The Geisha Nishikigi-Dayû Kazuko Yoshiyuki - The Servant Omatsu Tomorowo Taguchi - Samurai Tojiro Yuzawa Yoichi Sai - Commander Isami Kondo Jiro Sakagami - Lieutenant Genzaburo Inoue Zakoba Katsura - Wachigaiya Kei Sato - The Narrator (voice) Chikako Aoyama Yoshiaki Fujiwara Daisuke Iijima Yoichi Iijima Yoshiaki Inagaki Yozaburo Ito Iwawo Toujiro Kinoshita Seiji Kurasaki Emiko Michii

Kumotaro Mukai Takuya Muramatsu Mami Nakamura Hirofumi Nakase Yo Obara Takashi Odashima Kazuhiko Okuno Yoshiyuki Omori Uzaburo oshima Toru otomo Kasumi Sawanoi Shun Sugata Shougo Tajika Sanji Takei Yoji Tanaka - Samurai executed by Kano Susumu Terajima - spy of Shinsen-gumi Sayami Toda Makoto Togashi Kenichi Urata Masanosuke Yamaguchi Yukiharu Yamaguchi Shuji Yamazaki Manami Azechi Yoshiaki Umegaki

Film Festivals

• 2013 (37th) Hong Kong International Film Festival - March 17 - April 4, 2013 - Special Presentations

Awards

• 1999 (42nd) Blue Ribbon Awards - February 12, 2000
  • "Best Picture"
  • "Best Director" (Nagisa Oshima)
  • "Best Supporting Actor" (Shinji Takeda)
  • "Best Newcomer" (Ryuhei Matsuda)

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Comments

PonyMint Aug 03 2013 8:06 pm Hypnotic? Powerful? Really? Not imo. It swells with potential that is never exploited or developed fully. There are points with written words, which isn't done as poorly as other movies I've seen with this because they don't try to highhandedly indoctrinate the viewer or tell them what to feel. Instead they merely summarize events or underline the outcome of something that's happened. It's not as bad as many others Japanese productions in this genre, but still not a must see or even a, I'd like to see it again.