The Master of Kabuki: a staggering novelistic scale (review)

This intimate and flamboyant artistic saga explores the backstage of kabuki with a nervous and unexpected elegance.

At first glance, The Kabuki Master could resemble a slightly dusty fresco on frozen art. But Lee Sang-il prefers formalin tension. Behind the precise gestures and ritual of kabuki, he unfolds a vibrant drama where the rise of the son of a yakuza adopted by a theater master transforms into a silent struggle against the established order. The child of crime becomes a prodigy of tradition and from this paradox is born the emotional charge of the film. The staging combines visual sophistication and dazzling energy. The sequences on stage, flashes of color and choreographed precision, offer a literally hypnotic spectacle. Conversely, behind the scenes, sometimes violent, reveal the mechanics of a world where beauty and cruelty coexist.

This is where the film finds its true dynamic: in the tensions between sacred heritage, frustrated ambitions and crumbling fraternities. Lee takes on a staggering novelistic scope, covering half a century at an accelerated pace. Certain ellipses leave gray areas, but this excess, far from weakening the whole, gives the story a tragic breath: a continuous movement, carried by actors whose restraint never prevents emotion from surfacing. The film then touches something universal: the way in which art can shape an existence to the point of consuming it. By questioning both the price of grace and the sacrifice necessary to become an artist, Lee Sang-il creates a great, sensitive show but also a deeply touching fable.

Of Lee Sang-il. With Ryô Yoshizawa, Ryusei Yokohama, Soya Kurokawa… Duration: 2h54. Released December 24, 2025