Saw it!
Solid film but a bit of a strange one. I guess the tropes you could expect in this type of movie are not there. It's not about the talented but lazy actor, it's not about finding you passion, it's not about reaching fame through hard work, it's not a film about the rivalry between two actors trying to beat/undermine each other, etc. Many of the themes you could expect are not there either. It's the least queer film about female impersonators you could imagine. It's not really about the life of a theater company. It's not about the evolution of the place of kabuki in society. More: a lot of the important events that shaped the life of the main character are also left in ellipsis... Still it lasts 3 hours! What's going on?
Well... the story spans 50 years and there are a lot of kabuki sequences. They are captivating and often you can draw parallels between the plot of the play and the life of the character, but what I mean is that, except in rare occasions, they don't move the plot along so it inflates the length of the movie. As for the plot, it's rather subdued, but I guess it's about the weight of talent versus the weight of lineage in the balance of society and the price to pay for total dedication and an unquenchable thirst for beauty.
The production design, direction and performances (though I am not well equipped to judge the value of kabuki performances - the film makes it very clear) are very solid. The direction lacks maybe a clear vision. During the performances, we are sometime with the audience, sometime on stage with the actors, sometime behind the scene... there is beauty and solemnity but no clear point of view. The use of music is a bit strange also. You have a very subdued plot, but a very emphatic music, often used on top of the "in film" / diegetic music that happens during the performances, which is a bit weird.
I enjoyed it, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it dared a little bit more maybe?
