Gohatto (Taboo) poster & wallpaper
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Takeshi Kitano, Shinji Takeda, Tadanobu Asano, Koji Matoba, Kazuko Yoshiyuki ... see more see more... , Tomorowo Taguchi , Yoichi Sai , Kei Sato , Ryuhei Matsuda

After a 13-year absence, partially due to a life-threatening stroke, master filmmaker Nagisa Oshima returns to the silver screen with this revisionist samurai epic. From his first major film, Cruel St... read more read more...ory of Youth to his most notorious work Ai no Korrida, Oshima has coupled the political and the sexual in a manner that transgresses all social norms. In this film, Oshima explores homosexuality among the ranks of the much hallowed samurai. The film is set in Kyoto in 1865 during a critical moment of Japanese history--the country's 300-year-long self-imposed isolation was coming to an abrupt halt leading to the end of the Shogunate. In its place came a more internationally-minded government with the Emperor as its nominal head. Feeling both their traditions and their grip on power threatened, samurai militia sprang up throughout the country to fight this foreign encroachment. One such group, the Shinsengumi, is auditioning new recruits at the film's opening. Commander Kondo (Yoichi Sai) and Captain Hijikata (Takeshi Kitano, a renowned filmmaker in his own right) select the ruggedly handsome Tashiro (cult actor Tadanobu Asano) and Kano (Ryuhei Matsuda), an effeminate lad with long locks and a thirst for blood. Worried about the perceived slightness of the latter, Kondo and Hijikata order Kano to perform an execution, which he does with grim aplomb. The lad's androgynous beauty soon raises the general blood pressure of the militia. While Tashiro snuggles up with him nightly, Hijikata, who suspects that something other than manly appreciation is going on between the two neophytes, also seems unduly interested in the youth. This film was screened in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Flixster Users

68% liked it

4,582 ratings

Critics

67% liked it

21 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 41 min.

Directed by: Nagisa Oshima

Release Date: October 6, 2000

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DVD Release Date: August 13, 2002

Stats: 220 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (220)

  • SirPant
    September 21, 2009
    SirPant
    Gay samurai's and Beat Takeshi, what more could you ask for?
  • DrBenway
    August 6, 2008
    DrBenway
    The title of the film may be misleading since it's more about samurai allowing petty sexual desire to interfere with discipline and order. Quietly, the film recreates the period with such detail. It looks fantastic, and the characters come to life with real drama and humor and i... read mores the best darned gay samurai murder-mystery I have ever seen (actually, the only one). The story concerns the problems created when a beautiful, androgynous samurai played by Ryuhei Matsuda joins up. He and his fellow inductee, Tadanobu Asano (Ichi The Killer, Mongol), are the best fighters out of a crop of students, and they are chosen for full membership.

    Besides the beautiful scenery and interesting premise, Gohatto is a good example of how the Japanese like it slow.
    The film won't change your life, but it might give you something to mull over, and is an aesthetically Japanese experience as you're likely to find anywhere. You really can't go wrong with Beat Takeshi and Tadanobu Asano again.
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  • fb1142797643
    January 21, 2012
    fb1142797643
    Presumably the final film from acclaimed director Nagisa Oshima, "Taboo" is an underwhelming farewell. Set in 1865 Kyoto at the close of Japan's shogun era, the story focuses on a vulnerable samurai militia that has recruited two new members. Tashiro (initially) seems like the ty... read morepical breed, but androgynous Kano is unusual. He is only 18, and has soft features and long hair. He prefers white robes instead of black. And he stirs repressed homosexual desire in virtually every man he meets. A secret love develops between Tashiro and Kano, though the foundation of this bond is weakly portrayed. Kano also accepts the homely advances of Yuzawa, a second soldier, while others view these couplings with a uneasy mix of jealousy and disapproval. This is supposed to be a fearsome group of warriors, after all.

    Some unintended chuckles result as these mighty swordsmen pull awkward confessions from each other (lots of poorly translated talk about men who "lean that way"), and the story -- scripted by Oshima himself, based on two Ryotaro Shiba novellas -- just isn't too compelling. There's a thin subplot about Kano accidentally insulting an older samurai by mistaking him for a monk, and the pair taking a subsequent face-saving mission against a rival troop. But the tale inevitably returns to the deviant longings that possess Kano and his dojo peers.

    There is one brief, non-explicit sex scene, but the film is otherwise chaste. Not even a kiss or a nipple. The swordplay is satisfying though unspectacular, and one bloody beheading adds a splash of gore.

    "Taboo" lacks the radical editing and narrative jumps of Oshima's early films, and it has little visual style beyond a bluish color scheme and a climactic dose of atmospheric fog. Some scenes clumsily transition with wipes, and the peculiar use of title cards is outdated. Often, the unsubtle captions add more explanation than is needed. Ryuichi Sakamoto (who also worked on "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence") contributes a fine score, however.
  • cacutshaw
    January 31, 2008
    cacutshaw
    Oshima is back with, to my knowledge, the only gay samurai film. Beautiful, methodically paced and filled with interesting moments, it's easy to see you're in the hands of a master filmmaker. A great film.
  • doneru75
    May 21, 2008
    doneru75
    I know its lame but i did not know Samurai accepted gay people. a total shock but very interesting...
  • pinkjrock
    March 5, 2008
    pinkjrock
    i have seen this movie very good action and ryuhei is very handsome and talented i
    also like shinji both are very skilled and
    talented.
  • cycleman343
    November 20, 2007
    cycleman343
    love, war, intrigue.
    very little love (all of it gay), even less war, too much intrigue.
    somewhat of a disappointment.
  • joyouskiss
    June 24, 2007
    joyouskiss
    Strange, yet interesting erotic gay samurai flick. One samurai's beauty is bewitching the men he shares the dojo with at the samurai training school. He has never known the touch of women so a few try to introduce him to women prostitutes that it turned into a surprising twist of... read more events.
  • Youareinapartofthegear
    April 3, 2007
    Youareinapartofthegear
    Really freaking weird...but I loved it. Another Ryuhei Matsuda movie!! It's just a weird movie...maybe boring for some people, but I enjoyed it...you have to like weird Japanese stuff, I guess...
  • JRTfan
    January 6, 2007
    JRTfan
    Film about a taboo subject in the West. It kept me interested with its twists. The only thing that bothered me was that the star had crossed-eyes and it drove me nuts.

View All Gohatto (Taboo) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert
July 24, 2001
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Taboo is not an entirely successful film, but it isn't boring. Full Review

Michael Dequina
November 9, 2009
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com

A film that provocatively entwines the violent world of samurai with forbidden eroticism ends up so bloodless (in a figurative sense). Full Review

Brian Mckay
February 21, 2004
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com

A Gay Samurai Murder Mystery that's lacking in all three categories Full Review

Eric D. Snider
November 4, 2003
Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com

A self-serious cheese-fest ... utterly worthless as an actual film, but quite entertaining as an object of derision. Full Review

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
February 28, 2002
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies

The best darned gay samurai murder-mystery I have ever seen. Full Review

John A. Nesbit
February 24, 2002
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews

...much of the film revolves around a guessing game about the ambiguous young samurai Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
September 10, 2001
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

Though the 68 year-old director suffered a stroke a few years ago, he has triumphantly returned with one of the greatest Japanese films in years, directed from the seat of his wheelchair. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
July 16, 2001
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A brilliantly stylized period piece set in Kyoto. Full Review

David Noh
January 1, 2000
David Noh, Film Journal International

Eventually, the fate-driven plot takes hold of you and becomes compelling. Full Review

Todd McCarthy
March 26, 2009
Todd McCarthy, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

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