Captain Hijikata: Beat Takeshi	Sozaburo Kano: Ryuhei Matsuda
Soji Okita: Shinji Takeda	Hyozo Tashiro: Tadanobu Asano
Lt. Inoue: Jiro Sakagami	Yuzawa: Tomorowo Taguchi
Director: Nagisa Oshima

30 Second Bottom Line: Suspected and genuine homosexual desires among members of the elite samurai warriors lead to intrigue, drama and at times, death.

Story Line: In 1860's Japan, Sozaburo Kano (Ryuhei Matsuda) and Hyozo Tashiro (Tadanobu Asano) are the two applicants, among many, who are selected for a training program to become samurai warriors. Their final test is to battle the best man in the militia, Soji Okita (Shinji Takeda).

Kano is a young man whose appearance is so delicate that your first thought is that he is a woman in hiding. When you realize he is a man, you think that possibly he is a homosexual because of his androgynous features.

The samurai trainees sleep in a common dwelling, on floor mats, there is no privacy. Tashiro soon makes it clear to Kano that he wants to make love to him. Kano is less than eager to consummate that relationship and because of his apparent unwillingness to aggressively fight Tashiro in a practice match, Captain Hijikata (Beat Takeshi) suspects that they are lovers.

Hijikata, one of the training commanders, observes that most men cut their locks (long hair drawn back into a ponytail) once they are accepted into the program. Locks are a sign of childhood and virginity. Kano, however, does not cut his hair, Soji also wears locks, and right away we see that sexuality is an underlying issue among the warriors. Indeed sexual intimacy may have been, if not encouraged, certainly acceptable as a bonding device for the men. But not to the point of distraction, as Kano's exceptional beauty threatens.

Why men want to become samurai warriors varies just as much as why men and women want to become police officers. Some motives are purer than others. Kano is allowed to live out his boyhood fantasies as he tells us, "The militia allows me to kill." He is ordered to execute a man found guilty of a capital offense. Kano appears to be a reluctant executioner, but when called to the task he performs admirably and is able to take the life of another man in just an instant.

Knowing something of another person's culture helps us to understand why they do what they do. The samurai have a code of conduct that if violated, results in disembowelment or beheading. The code states that one must never betray, desert, borrow money (yikes!!), file civil suits or fight for personal motives. Note that the word fight means that the loser dies at the edge of a sword.

Kano is befriended by an older warrior, Lt. Inoue (Jiro Sakagami). The two of them get into a skirmish with other samurais and Kano suffers injuries requiring an extended recuperation period. During this time, Yuzawa (Tomorowo Taguchi) makes sexual advances to Kano and will not be denied…so much duplicity.

Because Kano has never had sex with a female, he is taken to a brothel to spend the night and have sexual intercourse with the most desirable woman there. His experience with a prostitute and jealousy by Tashiro lead to a climatic conclusion where the action of the sword resolves numerous disputes.

Tell Me More About It: Homosexuality is one of the last things that comes to my mind when I think of the interpersonal relationships between elite warriors. The samurai appear to be the equivalent of the President's security force, if one were to have existed at that time. They would be the men among men. With a conservative code of conduct; learning to kill during daytime exercises; and love making in the barracks at night, you have an environment that's bound to become tense and at some point explode into violence.

While homosexuality is not necessarily approved of by the commanding officers, it is accepted for what it is; a freedom of choice to freely pursue ones sexual orientation. History tells us that homosexuality was the purest expression of manly love in the eyes of the samurai. Although the setting is Japan and not America, in some ways the enlightenment of 135 years ago is more advanced than we are today.

The beauty is in the details with this motion picture. The execution carried out by Kano has more impact than the great battle scenes in Gladiator. While it does not have the same shock effect of the execution in Dancer in the Dark, the major difference is that here you do not know the victim, so there is less of an emotional connection.

Taboo is also beautifully photographed. The final scenes are truly elegant with the feelings conveyed. Using footpaths in the wilderness, lighting, and pale shimmering flowers on trees, director Nagisa Oshima, captures a surreal feeling while dealing in the present and looking to the future. Oshima's most popular film is In the Realm of the Senses (1976) also an examination of sexual fantasy bedded down with grim reality. He continues to provoke thought about the lives of people in society who tend to be overlooked. Although I can't think of a comparable filmmaker in the US, it's clear that as we learn more about others, we do as well about ourselves.