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A uniquely prolific and chameleonic figure of world cinema, Kon Ichikawa delivered a burst of stylistic bravado with this intricate tale of betrayal and retribution. Set in the cloistered world of nineteenth-century kabuki theater, the film charts a female impersonator’s attempts to avenge the deaths of his parents, who were driven to insanity and suicide by a trio of corrupt men. Ichikawa takes the conventions of melodrama and turns them on their head, bringing the hero’s fractured psyche to life in boldly experimental widescreen compositions infused with kaleidoscopic color, pop-art influences, and meticulous choreography. Anchored by a magnificently androgynous performance by Kazuo Hasegawa, reprising a role he had played on-screen three decades earlier, An Actor’s Revenge is an eye-popping examination of how the illusions of art intersect with life.
Original Release
01/13/1963
US Release
06/16/1971
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Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Kazuo Hasegawa | Yamitaro the Thief / Yukinojo Nakamura |
Fujiko Yamamoto | Ohatsu |
Ayako Wakao | Namiji |
Eiji Funakoshi | Heima Kadokura |
Narutoshi Hayashi | Mukuzu |
Eijirô Yanagi | Hiromi-ya |
Chûsha Ichikawa | Kikunojo Nakamura |
Ganjiro Nakamura | Sansai Dobe |
Yutaka Nakayama | Townsman |
Chitose Maki | Townswoman |
Directors
Writers
Otokichi Mikami, Daisuke Itô, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Natto Wada, Kon Ichikawa, Hiroaki Fujii, Tomio Takamori
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Kazuo Hasegawa | Yamitaro the Thief / Yukinojo Nakamura |
Fujiko Yamamoto | Ohatsu |
Ayako Wakao | Namiji |
Eiji Funakoshi | Heima Kadokura |
Narutoshi Hayashi | Mukuzu |
Eijirô Yanagi | Hiromi-ya |
Chûsha Ichikawa | Kikunojo Nakamura |
Ganjiro Nakamura | Sansai Dobe |
Yutaka Nakayama | Townsman |
Chitose Maki | Townswoman |
Toshio Chiba | Ronin |
Koichi Mizuhara | Dobe's Man |
Saburo Date | Kawaguchi-ya |
Shirô Ôtsuji | Civil Guardsman |
Jun Hamamura | Isshosai |
Kikue Môri | Cruel Old Woman |
Yoshi Katô | Shogun's Retainer |
Eigoro Onoe | Shogun |
Tokio Oki | Civil Guardsman |
Masayoshi Kikuno | Yukinojo's Father |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Masaichi Nagata | Producer |