映画「国宝」を観てⅡ 解説と感想を3レベルの英語で。
皆様こんにちは。暑中お見舞い申し上げます。年間何十本の映画、もちろん日本の映画だけでなく、様々な映画を楽しんでいるヴェロニック校長 がこれまで観た映画の中でも特にすごい！と感銘を受けた映画「国宝」その解説と感想を3レベルの英語でまとめています。どうぞ、お楽しみください！Easy EnglishKikuo was born into a yakuza family in Japan in 1960.When he was fifteen, his father was killed.He is then adopted by a famous kabuki actor, Hanai Hanjiro, who sees in him a gift for becoming a kabuki actor.Kikuo learns kabuki with Shunsuke, the master's son.They grow up together, quarrel, grow closer and become stars of kabukitheatre, playing female characters.Kikuo eventually becomes a“living national treasure”,recognisedfor his art.The film shows his journey over fifty years, from Nagasaki to Tokyo, with lots of emotion and magnificent kabuki scenes.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Intermediate EnglishKokuhōtells the story of Kikuo Tachibana, born into a yakuza family in 1960s Japan.After his father's murder, he is taken in at the age of fifteen by a kabuki master, Hanai Hanjiro, who initiates him into the art of the female role, called onnagata, which literally means“female form”, alongside his son Shunsuke.Over the course of fifty years, between rivalry and mutual admiration, Kikuo was to become an exceptional artist.Despite family tensions, scandals, and sacrifices, his self-sacrifice will lead him to receive the official title of kokuhō(国宝), whichdesignates what is considered a national treasure in Japan.The film unfolds throughout a visual and emotional journey across Japan, illustrating the personal and cultural evolution of the period.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Advanced EnglishKokuhōis a masterful 175-minute cinematic fresco, adapted from the novel by Shūichi Yoshida and conceived by Lee Sang-il with a screenplay by Satoko Okudera, which follows the tragic yet glorious trajectory of Kikuo Tachibana, an orphan from a 1960s yakuza clan, to his consecration fifty years later as a living national treasure of kabuki, otherwise known as kokuhō(国宝).Adopted by Hanai Hanjiro, Kikuo trains as an onnagata, a man embodying female roles in a discipline where family heritage is essential.He bonds with Shunsuke, the master's son, and their rivalry becomes the dramatic framework of the story: a struggle for recognition, identity tensions and total dedication to an ancestral art that is faltering under the impact of modernity.These two characters offer us an absolutely magnificent game of mirrors in which they melt into each other, wanting to be the other without accepting what they are.The production depicts a Japan in the throes of change, from the back alleys of Nagasaki to the kabuki dressing rooms of Tokyo, with meticulous art direction, costumes evocative of the Shōwa era, fluid cinematography and a visual immersion in the intimacy of kabukitheatre, magnified by the aestheticrigourand emotional tension of each performance.The film explores the question: at what cost does one become a kokuhōwhen tradition, rivalry and identity come together in a modern Japan in transition?-------------------------------But still ...Critics praised the immersive staging in the world of kabuki, combining spectacle with a deep look at a traditionThe Japan Times notes a“sumptuously filmed”three-hour film retracing half a century of kabukitheatre,with a masterful Ryo Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama both, alongside Ken Watanabe, in the role of a kabuki master.A Directors' Fortnight reviewer calls it“one of the best works of the Fortnight”, thanks to its careful structure, scenes reminiscent of the kabuki experience, and excessively polished performances.Kokuhōis seen as an ambitious tribute to kabuki, blending majestic spectacle, intimate emotion and cultural depth.The acting, as well as the visual aspect, were unanimously appreciated.The director has chosen his actors meticulously, including the 2 actors Ryo Yoshizawa and Ruysei Yokohama, who worked for one year and a half with authentic kabuki actors to perfect their acting.Also featured is an extraordinary Min Tanaka, a dancer-choreographer and actor also seen in Perfect Days.In the role of Shunsuke's mother, Shinobu Terajima, daughter of kabuki theatreactor Onoe KikugorōVII.Kokuhōis a breathtaking work of cinematic art that I can't recommend highly enough.Enjoy the film 🎥 !
