Showtimes
Festival Theaters 3
By Robert St. Martin
Palm Springs, CA (The Hollywood Times) 1/4/26 – From Japan at this year’s AFI FEST 2025 is a brilliant film Kokohu by Sang-il Lee, adapted by screenwriter Satoko Okudera from Shūichi Yoshida’s two-part novel about a family who specialized in Kabuki theatre. Filmmaker Sang-il Lee’s sumptuous period epic, which was 15 years in the making, tells a decades-spanning tale of devotion and sacrifice for the craft of onnagata in Kabuki (where men cross-dress as female characters in theater). The impressive film has three screenings at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, beginning with Sunday, January 4, 2026, at 9:00 AM in Festival Theatres 1. For details on the other two screenings, see below.
The performers of this theatrical art form of Kokuho are considered “ningen kokuho,” a “living national treasure” recognized by the Japanese government. This film recounts five decades of the tumultuous rivalry and indelible bond between two aspiring Kokuho actors.
The film opens in 1964 with Nagasaki, a timid but strong-willed 14-year-old Kikuo Tachibana (played by Soya Kurokawa) is taken under the wing of renowned Kabuki maestro Hanai Hanjiro (Ken Watanabe) after his own yakuza father was slain in a gang battle with a rival gang. In the world of Kabuki, bloodline is highly valued, but Kikuo, with his natural talent, achieves great success. Hanai Hanjiro witnesses the boy’s emotional intensity and instinct for performance. Under Hanjiro’s strict and often physical guidance, Kikuo enters the rigorous world of kabuki, marked by intense discipline, inherited tradition, and relentless devotion to art.
Raised alongside Hanai’s only son, Shunsuke (Keitatsu Koshiyama), Nagasaki is the closest person to Shunsuke but also his competitive rival on stage. The two dedicate their youth to honing their craft, often side by side and often in conflict. Ryo Yoshizawa plays the older Kikuo Tachibana, with Ryusei Yokohama as the older Shunsue Ögak.
However, when Hanjiro is hospitalized after an accident and appoints Kikuo, not Shunsuke, as his stage successor, a deep rift opens between the two. What was once an unsteady balance of friendship and competition begins to erode, shaping the trajectory of their lives and reshaping the family itself. This visually opulent and narratively rich saga has been selected as Japan’s official submission for the 2026 Academy Awards Best International Feature Film.
Understanding kabuki as an artform certainly enriches the viewing experience. Deeply rooted in Japanese aesthetics, kabuki resists easy consumption by Western audiences, given its stylized mannerisms, vocal delivery, and visual formalism. While recent efforts, like English-language seminars at the Kabukiza Theatre in Ginza, have attempted to bridge the gap, “Kokuho” makes no effort to simplify or adapt.
In making this work, the main cast members Ryo Yoshizawa, who plays Kukuo, and Ryusei Yokohama, portraying Shunsuke, trained for a year and a half under kabuki actor Nakamura Ganjiro IV. Their effort shows. The two are not only convincing on stage, but also excel in emotionally charged scenes offstage, whether in confrontation or quiet introspection. Their chemistry forms the backbone of the story, while their character arcs unfold with increasing psychological weight. At times, the resemblance in their kabuki personas creates brief confusion, whether by design or not, but this is a minor distraction in a work of such overall clarity.
In an interview after filming, Yoshizawa said, “Practicing for a year and a half, I realized more and more that I couldn’t keep up the pace the more I did. Compared to everyone who has been performing on stage since childhood, of course, a year and a half isn’t enough to master it all, but I think what was necessary for this film was the spirit of clinging to kabuki despite understanding that. That perseverance was what I felt was needed.”
Yokohama commented, “I didn’t know much about the world of kabuki myself. If I had known more, I might have been overwhelmed with unnecessary information, so maybe my desire to learn more came from not knowing. While respecting the customs and traditions, I also lived as a kabuki actor, and I think I was able to throw myself into it wholeheartedly.”
The narrative subtly parallels their relationship with that of a love story: a fateful meeting, a growing connection through rivalry, a dramatic rupture, and eventual reconciliation. These emotional beats are echoed in the kabuki performances themselves, which the film cleverly integrates into the story, using them as mirrors for the characters’ emotional states and life trajectories.
Another important thread is the depiction of women in the male-dominated world of kabuki. They are ever-present, but sidelined, supportive yet unable to influence outcomes. Shinobu Terajima is exceptional as Sachiko Ogaki, Shunsuke’s mother, whose warnings about adopting Kikuo go unheeded. Her character’s gradual realization of her own marginalization, and her son’s heartbreak, adds a quiet tragedy to the overall arc. Her performance is restrained and emotionally textured, underscoring the film’s broader critique of patriarchal structures within traditional arts.
Kokohu has three screenings at the Palm Springs International Film Festival: Sunday, January 4, 2026, at 9:00 AM, in Festival Theatres 1; Monday, January 5, 2026, at 12:15 PM, in Festival Theatres 4/5; and Saturday, January 10, 2026, at 10:45 AM, in Festival Theatres 3. For tickets, go to: https://psfilmfest.org/film-festival-2026/film-finder/kokuh%C3%B4.
