御法度 / Gohatto

(Movie Review)

This was one of the movies recommended by Donald Richie in his book on Japanese films.

It is another movie about the infamous Samurai Corps Shinsengumi (see Romulus Hillsborough's book or the movie "When the Last Sword is Drawn".)

Donald Richie summarizes the themes of this movie very succinctly, so I'll just quote him: "Gohatto repeats the theme [of director Oshima] that love destroys. Yet, by 1999, heterosexual love on screen, through repeated exposure, had already lost its transgressive power. Oshima therefore turned to another expression of desire.
The society at the film's core is the Shinsengumi, an elite group of swordsman commissioned in 1863 to counter anti-shogunate activities. They are fanatically loyal, think as a group, and attempt to subdue personal feelings. Into their midst is enrolled an extremely handsome youth. Passion grips the all-male Shinsengumi, discipline disappears, and death results."

I checked with my students about the historical accuracy of the movie, and they said it wasn't very accurate, but there was a real incident of unrequited homosexual love in the real Shinsengumi, which eventually lead to betrayal and death. The same students mention this movie is a satire on the ultra-masculine Shinsengumi by portraying them all as closet homosexuals. Another element of satire is added by portraying many of the Shinsengumi characters (most of whom died young in real life) with middle aged actors, such as Beat Takeshi.

(The movie is based on a novel by Japanese historical novelist Shiba Ryotaro, which hasn't been translated into English, but given Shiba Ryotaro's reputation for accuracy, I imagine the original novel must have been largely factual.)

Watching this movie, I was reminded of Ian Buruma's essay on Robert Baden-Powell. Baden-Powell was a British military hero, the founder of the boy scouts, all around outdoorsman, and a rumored closet homosexual. Ian Buruma examines the life of Baden-Powell, and compares it with dandyism among later Japanese samurais to ask the question: "As one gets further and further into the cult of masculinity, and more and more repelled by anything soft or feminine, is it possible that at some point all this masculinity might in fact result in its opposite: namely dandyism and homosexuality?" (All misquoted here as I have no copy in front of me, but that was the general gist of his essay.)

This question isn't explicitly addressed in the movie, but you can't help but wonder if it was in the back of the director's mind.

As this story is largely fictionalized, the larger politics of the fall of the Shogun and Meiji restoration are mostly in the background and unimportant to the story. There is enough name dropping to make me glad that I have been reading up on this period recently, but historical knowledge is by no means essential to understanding the story.

And also be forewarned ahead of time that this is one of those movies where everything is not spelled out for you at the end. You know, the kind of movie where you are like, "What? Is that the end? What is that supposed to mean?" And then, if you're like me, you get on-line and spend another 30 minutes or so reading up on different people's interpretations to try and make sense of it.
(If you log into the IMBD discussion board, there's a surprisingly lively discussion about the end of this movie and what it is supposed to mean).

Link of the Day
From Peter Bratt The Southern Strategy: Or, Better Understanding Your Local Kent County Commission District
Via This Modern World:Right wingers and the dialogue on race.

Gohatto: Movie Review (Scripted)