Taboo
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: B-
Nagisa Oshima is one of
the most prolific filmmakers of the ‘new wave’ of Japanese filmmaking, dating
back to the 50’s and 60’s. He has been
making films that have since then further proven his interest in more diverse
works and ways, while also provoking left-wing political movements. He started his own independent company in
1965, which would see the likes of filmmakers such as Akira Kurosawa.
Gohatto (Taboo) is his
latest film from 1999, which is released through New Yorker Video on DVD. The film is set in the mid 1800’s Kyoto,
where a samurai militia unit is in desperate need of new recruits. What they did not expect to get though was
an 18-year old by the name of Kano.
Kano is surprisingly attractive and flashy, which eventually causes
upheaval and jealousy to emerge within the unit.
Since Oshima is the Brian
De Palma of Japanese erotic/thriller based films, there is an underlying amount
of homoerotic references as the swordplay soon becomes metaphorical for the
tension and passion that arouses the men.
Rather than try to investigate this sub-culture, Oshima simply lays
everything out there for open interpretation.
New Yorker Video’s release
of Taboo onto DVD looks rather good, presented in it’s 1.85 X 1 aspect ratio,
despite looking closer to a 1.78 X 1 ratio.
There are some minor detail problems and the print itself appears to
have a degraded look, which makes it appear like a digitally shot film. The haziness does detract the viewer
somewhat from the ‘realism’ of the piece.
I also wonder if the film was suppose to be in scope 2.35 X 1 as
well. Some scenes indicate that more
material was supposed to be included in the frame.
The Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo audio track is adequate enough to get the job done. There are obvious limitations since no
surround activity is picked up, which makes the entire presentation very
front-heavy and lax.
The only supplement is a
trailer for the film, which looks slightly better color-wise, but certainly
much worse in terms of detail and grain.
This is perhaps a film that will only appeal to those interested in
slight variations of samurai-type of films.
- Nate Goss
