Revenge of a Kabuki Actor (1963)

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 (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Kon Ichikawa
Written By: Daisuke Itô, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Natto Wada, Otokichi Mikami
Starring: Shintarô Katsu, Raizô Ichikawa, Jun Hamamura, Saburô Date, Ayako Wakao, Kazuo Hasegawa, Eiji Funakoshi, Eijirô Yanagi, Kikue Môri, Fujiko Yamamoto, Narutoshi Hayashi, Chûsha Ichikawa
Genre: Drama
AKAs: An Actor's Revenge, Yukinojo henge
Country: Japan
Where to Stream
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Revenge of a Kabuki Actor belongs to 34 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 234 stars)
2. Criterion Collection (collaborative: moderated by caffe - 167 stars)
3. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2008 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Scottathon - 39 stars)
4. Jonathan Rosenbaum's Top 1000 Movies (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 38 stars)
5. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2010 revision) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 32 stars)
6. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)
7. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2012 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 25 stars)
8. AAA: Empire's five star movies (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 24 stars)
9. They Shoot Pictures' Recommended Viewing (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 19 stars)
10. Best of criticker: Drama (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 18 stars)
11. Great color cinematography (collaborative: moderated by Alex Watkins - 16 stars)
12. The Obscure, the Forgotten, and the Unloved (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 15 stars)
13. Vigilante / Revenge (collaborative: moderated by td888 - 14 stars)
14. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2011 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 14 stars)
15. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
16. Cinema Discusso Yearly Consensus (2008) (public: PeaceAnarchy - 10 stars)
17. Cross-dressing / Transvestism / Transsexuality (collaborative: moderated by Moribunny - 9 stars)
18. Anamorphic Cinematography (collaborative: moderated by Bojangles - 7 stars)
19. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2007 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Scottathon - 4 stars)
20. edkrak films to see (public: edkrak - 4 stars)
21. Criterion Collection (Blu-ray and 4K) (public: PepeCamello - 3 stars)
22. Theater (collaborative: moderated by doganay - 2 stars)
23. The Criterion Channel (public: caffe - 2 stars)
24. my DVDs (collaborative: moderated by Jeb - 1 star)
25. Village Voice Critics Poll: 100 Best Films of the 20th Century (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 1 star)
26. Chanbara (public: PerryStroika - 1 star)
27. My Top 100 (collaborative: moderated by MartinTeller)
28. Films Watched in 2019 (collaborative: moderated by Malcym)
29. Jidaigeki (collaborative: moderated by tirefeet)
30. Available on Divicast (collaborative: moderated by Dunstan-xxx)
31. Foreign films on Divicast (collaborative: moderated by Dunstan-xxx)
32. Best of the Year (public: MartinTeller)
33. Filmspotting Ratings Project: Week 25 (public: PeaceAnarchy)
34. Films Dunstan Owns (public: Dunstan-xxx)
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Stars | User | Rating | |
4 | ![]() |
MartinTeller | 94 97th |
The visual flair is audacious, lively, and incredibly enjoyable to behold. The colors are vibrant, the staging absolutely exquisite. Masterful use of empty space. He exploits the widescreen scope in dazzling and unusual ways. He effortlessly tosses off one bold stylistic flourish after another as if to say, "there's plenty more where that came from!" The acting is top-notch across the board. The story is full of intrigue, suspense, romance, melodrama, and an astonishing playfulness and wit.
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2 | ![]() |
Magb | 95 94th |
Ichikawa plays wonderfully with conventions, cliches and expectations. Even though An Actor's Revenge was made in 1963 (fucking 1963!), it's still one of the best-looking movies I've ever seen. The acting is excellent, especially Hasegawa. The movie is, perhaps, a little bit slow in parts.
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2 | ![]() |
Pickpocket | 6 55th |
It's a nice little film with some clever cinematography and a cool story that comes full circle. That said, it never really captured my interest to the degree that a great film can. The first 30 minutes were brutal in comparison to the last parts in terms of pacing and story. Thought the best part of the film was the score, which was cleverly constructed and always interesting. Decent but nowhere near a tier 10.
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2 | mikeparasol | 95 96th |
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The actor's voice is really annoying, although it suits the role. Other than that its a fantastic film.
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1 | xacviant | 92 96th |
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Kon Ichikawa's melodrama can be summed up by looking at the title, but it's in the presentation that the film really soars. Beautiful use of color, bravura performances from all, especially Kazuo Hasegawa in a dual role as Yukinojo, the titular actor, a female impersonator who plays at effeminacy even off-stage, and as a wily thief who ultimately aids the actor's revenge. The stylization is breathtaking, but the emotional impact--especially the tragedy of Lady Namiji--is not blunted.
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Average Percentile 70.25% from 234 Ratings | ![]() |