Taboo (御法度 Gohatto) 1999

Taboo (Gohatto) is a story of a young samurai soldier whose expelling beauty awakens latent homoerotic desires amongst his juniors and superiors. Filmed with impressive beautiful visuals, Oshima deconstructs a now accepted genre, proving once more how he is still among the most reputable and daring directors of this today’s era. His 1999 film Taboo offers a Japanese piece stylistically rooted in his home country. At the same time the movie also offers the audience an intriguing work familiar characteristic of the director.

The movie’s event centers on Japan’s samurai era in 1865. Kano, lead character of the movie, is the beautiful looking male samurai trainee who suddenly enters the high ranks of the Shinsengumi, top rank samurais of Shogunate’s submissive rule. Soon Kano becomes the object of intrigue, sexual desire, and infatuation by his colleagues and superiors, including trainee samurais, Lieutenants, and so forth. Much of the story’s homosexuality is built by rumors. Eventually the story sharply leads murder while Sozabuto is ordered to slaughter the source of his affection.

In one occasion, Sozabuto is forced to wear a white robe which in Japanese means death. Annihilation soon favored Kano shortly after his beauty and presence captivated many admirers. Highlighting the reality of the samurai era that objects of homosexual affection is also the most deadly to acquire. Aside from Kano being the object of desire, another mystery crafted in the story is the identity of the Yuzawa’s murderer. This and the attempt to apprehend the traitors and enemies who are just within the base provide the main plotting of the story.

Although the movie provides two different impetuses, the movie’s plotting is still very minimal, and the film boils down mostly to a lot of infatuated desire towards Kano. The difficulties and conflicts of the story started to emerge during sparring session and training that highlights the homosexual desire of a number of Kano’s guy. In Taboo (Gohatto), much of the film’s interests rest in Sozaburo’s beauty and his colleges and guys intimate desires.

Takeshi Kitano being brilliant as ever has successfully depicted the films true meaning, and the era’s taboo problem. Kano withdrawn his identity and turned into an equally good effeminate Young Ryuhei Matsuda. The films supporting movie cast are also up to the movie’s task, specifically Shinji Takeda as Okita Soji, who is arguably the only gay man present in the barrack.

The movie Taboo (Gohatto) despite receiving good revenues still falls short in fulfilling its own premise, with the films only gay sex scene being unrealistic and extremely short. The film’s swordplay and lightning-quick battles are also incredibly depicted very fast. The films fighting scenes in particular consists of wooden sword training, sparring session, and hand to hand combats. Actual combats are done in seconds.

But overall, the movie still deserves a good rating and art house admirers, especially when the director saves the best scene for last, showing Hojikata’s final stand with a hardly cut that is more than necessary. Besides, the beautiful scenery and the story’s interesting premise only shows how Japanese love slow movies.