bbbandbbb2003

Shochiku stylized melodrama, with Kabuki influence in that the female lead is played by a female impersonator. The unspoken irony is that this object of male desire and obsession is played by a man with a very male face, height, hands. His studied precision at mimicking traditional Japanese female characteristics makes the response of the male characters seem appropriately pathetic. Fukasaku's studied use of visual metaphor has a distancing effect. An odd, but fascinating film. Don't watch it for the plot. Watch it for the complex point of view and the lead's tour de force performance. It doesn't belong to the same category as the John Waters' films. There's no mockery here, self or other.