Scriptwriter William Goldman famously said ¡°Nobody knows anything¡± in the movie business, beginning with why one film becomes a hit and not another.
The latest proof of that adage is ¡°Kokuho,¡± Lee Sang-il¡¯²õ megahit drama about two kabuki onnagata (men who play women¡¯²õ roles) who become friends and rivals as teenagers in postwar Osaka and have long, turbulent careers in this most Japanese of performing arts until one is named ¡°°ìŽÇ°ì³Ü³óš,¡± a government-bestowed honor meaning ¡°national treasure.¡±
Based on Shuichi Yoshida¡¯²õ two-part novel, the film clocks in at nearly three hours ¡ª a length generally considered box-office poison, especially with younger audiences used to consuming entertainment in quick hits on their devices. And the film¡¯²õ setting ¡ª the closed, tradition-bound world of kabuki ¡ª is little known to ordinary Japanese, who may only experience a real performance on a school excursion, if that.
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