Taboo
1999
Directed by Nagisa Oshima
Roger Ebert wrote that "Taboo is not an entirely successful film but it isn't boring." He could always hit the nail on the head when it came to movie reviews and always approached movies ready to love them. I miss that man. I wonder how he saw Taboo. For me obtaining the movie was, to borrow a phrase from In The Loop, difficult, difficult, lemon difficult.
In the mid 19th century, an elite samurai group recruits a young and handsome man, Kano Sozaburo. His hotness causes other samurai to be attracted to him. And I guess the samurai don't learn how to make sexual advances, because they do so in very awkward ways. But I guess it works for Kano, who seems to be a Japanese sex doll that's come alive.
It's like Mr. Ebert said. It certainly kept my interest throughout, but I'm not sure it said what it meant to say. The editing was strange. I felt like a scene would cut off before any tension had time to build. Everything felt very abrupt and hurried along. That's probably why they had the bizarre title cards providing narration throughout the movie.
In the end, it sounded much more interesting than it was. It was intriguing to see the issue of homosexuality addressed but it didn't really go anywhere. I would love to watch a slightly more daring film about gay samurai where Kano has more of a personality.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
This was Nagisa Oshima's only film after suffering from a stroke in 1996.
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