2/14/26 - Kokuho (2025) - 7-/10

A Shakespearean tragedy set in the realm of kabuki theater. The sets and costumes are transportative and the interweaving play of highs and lows suck you in and burrow inside your guts. Makes sense that this became the biggest live-action film in Japan of all time. It is art, imitating life, imitating art in an ouroboros of furtive glances played against the bold visual verbosity of the enigmatic kabuki.

It’s subtly bold and dramatic in its reservations. It hits all the beats of life, love, and art, expressed in symbols and a finely crafted application of subversing face paint. I did not expect to admire and adore it as much as I did.