Ashura

Posted by Skrud at Friday, July 8th 2005 at 2:34pm

Last night I saw Ashura (Ashurajo no Hitomi), a Japanese movie taking place in the Edo Period. Based on a play, Ashura was like a Kabuki theatre production. The special effects were purposefully cheesy and the melodramatic overacting and often absurd dialog really added to the whole feeling of watching live theatre. Ashura had a serious side, and a ridiculous side, not unlike Shakespeare. (I was reminded of the Romeo & Juliet production that I saw in Stratford during the IB trip). There were some times when I felt the movie was dragging on a bit too much (indeed, there are a couple of points where I think it could have ended and still been great), but as a whole Ashura was a great ride.

The story itself follows a demon-slayer turned Kabuki actor who falls in love with a demon-queen-to-be. Of course there are evil demons and demon-slayers in their way, and a playwright who can “only write what he sees” following everyone around. I would definitely recommend the movie to anyone with a penchant for absurdism.

(Fantasia info page for Ashura)

Tags: 2005, fantasia, japanese, movies