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Location > Japanese > Movie

Taboo (Japanese Movie DVD)
Takeshi Kitano , Matsuda Ryuhei , Shinji Takeda , Asano Tadanobu , Koji Matoba
Taboo

Language : Japanese
Subtitle : Korean,English
Media : DVD All region NTSC Format
Genre : Drama
# of Disc : 1 Disc
Released : 2002
Product code : 2300103
$16.99
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The year 1865 was a time of transition for Japan. The Tokugawa Shogunate would collapse in two years time and the Meiji Restoration, where the emperor would be restored to his full glory was a year after that. Yet political struggles and fighting between those loyal to the shogun and those loyal to the emperor marked that interim period.

The black-robed Shinsengumi are a pro-shogunate, pro-isolationist police force, a kind of elite squad fighting against pro-imperialist forces in Kyoto. They are led by Commander Kondo Isami and Captain Hijikata Toshizo.

The story revolves around Sozaburo Kano, one of two new recruits whose fighting skills impress the two leaders. Kano seems very able even in his first assignment, the execution of someone who broke the Shinsengumi code of borrowing money, dispatching the offender in the traditional way. Yet his effeminate looks and his hair, still in a long pony-tail as opposed to the short-cut adult style, arouse desires in certain officers in the police force, such as his fellow recruit Hyozo Tashiro and threatens the stability of the Shinsengumi. While Kano denies that he is someone's lover, he seems to enjoy the attention he gets from the others. Hijikata seems to think Kano and Toshiro were lovers. He has a dojo bout against Kano, who stands up well, and against Tashiro, who is "one notch lower than Kano." Yet when Kano and Tashiro fight, the former does not fight as well. This inconsistency leads the captain to that conclusion in answer to rumours asking who Kano has taken up with.

One repeated line has the motif of "Does he lean that way" or "I didn't know he leant that way" in regards to officers suspected of desiring Kano. There was indeed a homosexual subculture flourishing in Kyoto during the Tokugawa period and it wasn't forbidden. In the Shinsengumi, though, it's akin to love of youthful male beauty in Roman times.

One thing that might confuse people is the repeated mention of the Ikedaya Jiken (Incident). That was a fight that took place at the Ikedaya, an inn in Kyoto, in July 1864. Commander Kondo and some men attacked and killed eight anti-shogunate activists, arresting twenty. The two samurai who taunt Kano while he is having a bout with Commander Inoue were suspected of being anti-shogunate activists itching for revenge. And Satsuma and Aizu refers to domains held under sway of more moderate anti-shogunate forces who sought reconciliation with the shogunate.

Beat Takeshi (Takeshi Kitano under his acting name) is his usual understated but occasionally potent self, and he does well as Hijikata, even if real Hijikata died in his mid-thirties. His observation that jealousy among men is a dangerous thing underscores what happens when Kano comes into their midst. Historical accuracy is also questionable in the characterization of Commander Kondo, who like Hijikata was in his thirties when he was later captured and executed in 1868 by imperial forces.

The period detail is well captured, down to the dress and even the palanquins, as is the militaristic dojo atmosphere of the Shinsengumi. An interesting study of the attractions to youthful beauty and the jealousies it can lead to.






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