Kokuho

A Delight To The Senses, Must See Film

This film is one you will remember for the rest of your life. Guaranteed. A timeline tale of how arrogance can change fortunes, set with stunning detail across a film that will hold you captivated. The entire cast and crew have done an outstanding job of transporting audiences back to Old Japan, and across the decades of cultural change.

Stunning, intricate costumes with time period settings and scenery, even the colour grading is matched to resemble the relevant decades. The story is a powerful one that will leave you thinking for hours about fame, fortune and ego.

If ever there is a stage or TV adaptation, recommend Kazuya Kamenashi for the ML. While watching this film, it seemed to present potential to create a vehicle with smaller stories across multiple timelines. Enjoy.

Viewed at the Japanese Film Festival in Brisbane, Australia, Nov 2025.

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Movies where the protagonist gives their all to be the best at their art gives you the kind of rush you can't really feel anywhere else. For a second, you feel it makes sense why he's ready to make a deal with the devil just to shine on the stage. Because he's THAT good. But oh, he's so lonely. But it's the consequences of being the 'national treasure '.

You can tell the makers believed in the art of Kabuki to make it all looks so outstanding. The story is simple, tackles some issues such as how nepotism can ruin talented individuals but what makes the movie good is it's immersive nature. I couldn't look away from the screen. I think that was the point because it's a story about actors who do everything to look beautiful and so was this film was like that.

Our protagonist is flawed, he does dirty things but that is because dirty things have been done to him. But the movie never uses that to justify his action, instead reprimands him but you cannot help not feel bad for him as well. That's when you know you are seeing a nuanced character because he's so humane.

Of course, the acting by the two main leads was wonderful. I lowkey watched this for my boy Soya.

9/10

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