TABOO
DIRECTOR: NAGISA ÔSHIMA
JAPAN, 1999
A skilled young swordsman named Kano (Ryûhei Matsuda) is inducted into the renowned Shinsengumi samurai school. With his long locks, high cheekbones, and cool impassivity, Kano soon becomes an object of desire, pursued by men from his fellow inductee Tashiro (Tadanobu Asano) to several leading officials. Kano is equally an object of mystery to his superior, Captain Hijikata (Takeshi Kitano), through whose eyes the audience sees the story. Hijikata, and by extension we the viewers, will never know what qualities make Kano so magnetic or with whom Kano is involved. Jealousy, rumor, and Kano’s own inscrutability cloud the truth, leading to deceit and murder. (100 mins.)