An Actor's Revenge

Kon Ichikawa's An Actor's Revenge, from 1963, is a Cinemascope feast for the eyes that suffers from a lack of emotional commitment to the scenario and its characters. The film is a remake of a classic from the 30s and tells the tale of a transvestite actor in early 19th century Japan who seeks vengeance against three wealthy burghers responsible for his parents' death. Kazuo Hasegawa, who plays both the title character and a knave, is particularly memorable, but his character's motivations are slighted due to a sketchy back story. At times, I was convinced that Ichikawa was less interested in telling a story than in filling the frame in an eye pleasing fashion.

The film has a wonderful opening. Hasegawa is onstage and spies his enemies in a box. Ichikawa uses inserts within the wide frame to illustrate the mind's eye to exhilarating effect. However, this energy dissipates as the film unspools and its tone becomes more haphazard and uneven. Some critics have praised this as a polyphonic effect, but it struck me more as an attempt to jazz up a script that the director was only half interested in. The film's score reflects this schizoid nature: half moody jazz, half syrupy strings. The action scenes seem clumsy, the melodramatic ones are overly formal. I enjoyed the film quite a bit for its pungent playing and gorgeous cinematography, but felt no emotional charge at the dénouement. The play's the thing in An Actor's Revenge, but death has no sting.