´³²¹±è²¹²Ô¡¯²õ ningen kokuh¨ (living national treasures) are a select group of artisans and performers who are recognized for mastery of their craft. Shuichi Yoshida¡¯s 2018 novel ¡°Kokuho¡± traces the life of one such individual, an orphan from a yakuza clan adopted into a family of kabuki stars, whose tumultuous journey through the world of classical Japanese theater leads to the top ¡ª but at a price.
¡°Kokuho¡± has now been adapted into a film by Korean Japanese director Lee Sang-il which, following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this May, hits Japanese cinemas Friday. The sumptuously shot film spans three hours and half a century of story, and stars Ryo Yoshizawa (¡°Kingdom¡°) as orphan-turned-kabuki legend Kikuo alongside industry veterans like Ken Watanabe (¡°The Last Samurai¡°), who plays Kikuo¡¯s adopted father and a kabuki master in his own right.
Lee tells The Japan Times that while the provenance of the film is ostensibly Yoshida¡¯s 2018 novel, his desire to make a film about kabuki goes back much further, to shortly after he adapted Yoshida¡¯s novel ¡°Villain¡± for the screen in 2010.
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