An Actor's Revenge

Starring: Kazuo Hasagawa, Fujiko Yamamoto, Ayako Wakao, et al.

A Japanese actor in a 19th-century Kabuki troupe avenges the death of his parents.

• Format: DVD
• Language: English
• UPC: 715515210812
• Release Date: January 2018
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Publisher: Criterion Collection
• Director: Kon Ichikawa
• Starring: Kazuo Hasagawa, Fujiko Yamamoto, Ayako Wakao, Ganjiro Nakamura, Raizo Ichikawa
• Runtime: 1 hour, 53 minutes
• Number of Disks: 1
• Other Video Info: Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
• Weight: 0.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.4" x 7.5" x 0.7"

Customer Reviews

An Actor's Revenge (1963)

Aka Revenge of a Kabuki Actor (1963) Before you read the rest of the review, I must qualify this one by saying I only watched 15 minutes. I know of the many praises for this film; that is why I decided to watch it. Director Kon Ichikawa is a well-known director who has directed over 97 films. Daisuke Itô has written more than 100 screenplays in adaptations. Masaichi Nagata has produced at least 140 titles. Many of the actors are well-known to people who follow most of the J-a-p-a-n-e-s-e movies. If you follow my reviews, you will notice that I am fairly eclectic and will watch anything as long as it is moving; okay, I will watch it even if it is not moving. Unfortunately, in this case, the film moves too fast to be able to take in its intricacies and read the subtitles at the same time. The only way to get through this film is to watch it several times or press the pause button every five seconds. The subtitles are readable, and they have super-titles to tell you what the music is all about. All the credits have English imposed over the J-a-p-a-n-e-s-e. I checked all of the options on the DVD and did not find any English dubbed tracks. What I did watch did surprise me a little bit, as people were describing this in such glowing words as a Shakespearean-type movie. Yet it was very contemporary in its dialogue, and I swear I saw most of the actors in sci-fi movies of that time. The basic story that is based on a newspaper serial is of a man who spots the men responsible for his parents' deaths and takes revenge, starting with the daughter of one of the culprits. A little of the movie that I did watch, we were inside the actor's head as he was plotting. All of the elements of a good movie are there, but keeping up with the subtitles or guessing at the intent is excruciating. I will wait for the English dubbing or just watch the original film that this is based on.