"Gohatto" is a Japanese film about a gay samurai. It shows life in a samurai training school during the bakumatsu period, the end of the samurai era in the mid-19th century, and concentrates on homosexuality in the shudō tradition. The movie follows Sozaburo Kano (Ryuhei Matsuda) as he joins the Shinsengumi, an elite samurai feudal police force led by Kondo Isami (Yoichi Sai) that seeks to defend the shogunate against reformist forces. Kano's beauty and sword skill captivate the men around him, from the other new recruits to the top ranking officers. Suddenly people begin to die, murdered in the night. The plot is minimal, and the conflicts come out during training sessions that expose the homosexual nature of a number of the students. Stern leader Toshizo Hijikata (Takeshi Kitano) can intervene or let the samurais in question go on their own paths. His Shakespearian-inspired soliloquy at the end of the film is a high point. The ending leaves you with unanswered questions.
Like many Japanese films, "Gohatto" is deliberately slow, allowing the characters to unfold gradually before our eyes. The film’s only gay sex scene is disappointingly short and unrealistic. Swordplay is also disappointing, with fights of sparring in training using wooden swords, and combat scenes that are over in seconds. Ryuhei Matsuda is good as the effeminate, withdrawn, and complex Kano. The rest of the cast are also competent, in particular Shinji Takeda as gay Soji Okita. Ryotaro Shiba wrote the screenplay and Nagisa Oshima directed. The English title is "Taboo".
Like many Japanese films, "Gohatto" is deliberately slow, allowing the characters to unfold gradually before our eyes. The film’s only gay sex scene is disappointingly short and unrealistic. Swordplay is also disappointing, with fights of sparring in training using wooden swords, and combat scenes that are over in seconds. Ryuhei Matsuda is good as the effeminate, withdrawn, and complex Kano. The rest of the cast are also competent, in particular Shinji Takeda as gay Soji Okita. Ryotaro Shiba wrote the screenplay and Nagisa Oshima directed. The English title is "Taboo".
