Kokuho

Directed by Lee Sang-il, Kokuho details the decades-long rivalry between two men within the competitive world of kabuki theater. It’s potentially stirring subject matter that’s employed to padded-out (and progressively interminable) effect by Lee, as the filmmaker, armed with Satoko Okudera’s screenplay, delivers a punishingly deliberate endeavor that contains few (if any) attributes designed to initially capture (and eventually sustain) the viewer’s interest – with the arms-length atmosphere compounded by a series of bland, interchangeable characters and a recurring emphasis on protracted (and hopelessly dull) kabuki sequences. And while Lee has suffused the proceedings with a very small handful of compelling sequences and digressions, Kokuho‘s mind-boggling 175 minute (!!!) running time ensures such moments are crushed beneath the weight of a ponderous, uneventful narrative lacking in anything resembling forward momentum. (Lee’s decision to continually stress episodes of high melodrama only exacerbates the tedious vibe. By the time the endless climax rolls around, Kokuho has firmly confirmed its place as a handsomely-produced disaster that seems unlikely to even hold the attention of kabuki fanatics.

* out of ****