Sang-Il Lee should’ve known after working with Shûichi Yoshida on adaptations of his novels “Villain” and “Rage” that when he shared a stray kernel of a story idea set in the world of Kabuki theater he had been working on off and on, the author would make a meal of it. Lee was fascinated with onnagata, the actors that would inhabit female roles when it was considered indecent for actual women to play them in Japan, and a few years later, he learned that Yoshida had completed a two-part novel named “Kokuho” that wouldn’t be easy to put down, covering the last half of the 20th century after Japan had been radically reshaped by the dropping of the atomic bomb with Kabuki as one of the grand traditions that had been upended. After being gripped by the page-turner as so many others had as it became a best seller, Lee had to reconsider closing the book on the possibility he’d ever find himself on a Kabuki stage after his own idea never fully coalesced.
Lee puts it all together for a drama that may sound potentially stodgy with a three-hour run time and built around an art form that’s popularity began to peter out in the 18th century, but shows the zeal that has made him a national treasure (coincidentally the film’s translated title) as he tells of a delicious rivalry that develops between two actors whose lives and destinies are intertwined. Ryô Yoshizawa stars as Kikuo, the son of a Yakuza leader whose pursuit of acting comes just as his father is killed and he is quickly taken under the wing of one of the country’s great thespians Hanjiro Hanai (Ken Watanabe) who was a family friend. Kikuo’s natural ability to perform intrigues Hanjiro, more so than his own son Shunsuke (Ryûsei Yokohama), though he wants to be an actor as well and the two train together and become as close as brothers, though inevitably the profession where there are only so many parts to go around and skill doesn’t always correlate with success constantly threatens to pit them against each other.
After “Kokuho” opens at the home of Kikuo’s father for a private Kabuki performance, the film continues to have the verve of a crime thriller even after the main character seemingly puts that life behind him and the business he enters looks no more forgiving. Over decades, Lee observes with an unsparing eye how Kikuo withstands self-doubt as well as fierce competition to reach the stage in the first place and everything he feels he must do to stay there, letting down others and oftentimes himself as he places his career above everything else in his life. Still, when the film offers full scenes from the dramas Kikuo and Shunsuke act in where they seem to reach a transcendent state and “Blue is the Warmest Color” cinematographer Sofian El Fani brings out such rich colors in the sacred space of the theater, the pull is undeniable and the epic breezes by as it runs on the same passion that its characters bring to their work.
That fervor captured the imagination of audiences in Lee’s native Japan where “Kokuho” became an unlikely phenomenon, making local history as the second-most successful homegrown live-action film of all time after its premiere at Cannes and subsequently selected to represent the country as its Oscar entry for Best International Feature. With the film now arriving on U.S. shores for a one-week qualifying run in Los Angeles and New York ahead of a broader release early next year, Lee spoke via a translator about how he ended up fulfilling his vision albeit a little differently than he initially thought and rejuvenated one art form with his dynamic approach in another.
You’ve said that you shared the idea of a story set in the world of Kabuki with Shuichi Yoshida before he wrote the novel this film is based on. What was it like to have this idea come back to you so fully fleshed out?
In a word, it was beyond imagination. My story was more focused on jealousy and greed that was full-frontal. But I was imagining something more like “Amadeus” with Mozart and Salieri, something of that nature. But in the novel, he added this idea of this closed-off world of Kabuki and an outsider coming in and carrying the burden of the house — the history of that family. So through the film, it really expressed this beautiful connection, this bond of two souls in a really deep way, which was something that I really related to.
When the story concerns the life and career of an artist, was there anything important for you for it to express about the sacrifices or skills it takes?
Being an artist — and this is a very specific and special kind of artist to be a Kabuki [actor], not all people really get to see that scenery — but to get to the top, there’s always sacrifices that come with that. To be on stage [for a career] and to be shining in front of others, that’s the same in front of an actor being in front of a camera, you’re there to shine bright. And the stronger the light, the bigger the shadow also gets and the larger the burden of that shadow becomes. So that’s really part of that philosophy. It comes with the territory of being an artist.
You’ve said that you would not have moved forward with the film if it weren’t for Ryo playing Kikuo. Why was he so crucial in this part?
In terms of Kikuo, the most important aspect for me is very difficult to verbalize, but essentially to create a space within [this character] was really important because it symbolizes the downfall that can happen. But it’s also a space that can be filled with anything, so that’s a very special and unique vibe that he needed to put off. I knew that this wasn’t about acting, but really about who this person is at their core and he was for me the only one that could do this.
You put them through their paces with a year-and-a-half of training ahead of the production. What was it like to see the actors embrace the roles and embody the characters?
Once Kabuki actors can stand, they start their training for Kabuki, so one to two years in comparison to that is a very short time. [laughs] But [these actors we had for the film] really started like a baby with the very basics and by the shoot, I was very impressed with what a high skill they had. Seeing those performances on stage, I also really felt the struggle that they went through as actors to learn the craft and that was something I was very happy about.
You film those scenes on stage so dynamically to capture the energy that I imagine there was on set. What was it like to figure out how to make it cinematic?
Kabuki really is the topic of this film, but also if you wind it down a little bit more, it’s really about Kabuki actors and those involved in Kabuki, so I didn’t want to introduce Kabuki as an element on stage to the audiences, but I really wanted to show it from the perspective of the actors on stage. And in terms of our two lead cast members, they really struggled in their training, but [because of that] backbone of their struggle, all of their triumph comes through. I think of the marks that their nails leave [in the floorboards] That’s what comes off of the screen. We didn’t use any VFX or ADR in this, so everything you hear is live. It’s like Tom Cruise doing his own action. I wanted to have these actors really do their thing.
From what I understand, the Hinomoto Theater, a really majestic stage the actors reach for their final performance, was a set you fully built. What was it like to actually step onto that for the first time?
I was very excited when I saw it for the first time. Of course, I was involved in the planning and the layout prior to stepping on set, but the reality was very important but for it to really feel like a real Kabuki playhouse, but also going beyond that to feel almost like a god of Kabuki looking down on them when [the actors] have that moment looking up at the ceiling. That kind of atmosphere was very exciting to feel on set.
It really is magnificent. It certainly shows the life that’s in this artform and of course, the film has been wildly popular locally. What’s it been like to see audiences be so receptive to it both in Japan and abroad?
Japan has been a bit distanced from Kabuki in general, so I think this has allowed for a new discovery for a lot of people, appreciating the direction that’s involved, the makeup and the costumes, and really thinking about what are the intentions that go behind a lot of these things. Kabuki is not explained easily, and it’s not a simple thing, but looking at some of the messaging behind how things are done, I think is very fascinating for audiences.
“Kokuho” opens for a one-week Oscar qualifying run on November 14th in Los Angeles at the AMC Universal Citywalk and November 21st in New York at the Angelika Film Center before a wider nationwide release in 2026.