Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Nagisa Oshima is one of my favorite directors; his films are always beautiful and intelligent. "Gohatto" is Oshima's first film in a long time, and it is nice to see that he has not lost his artistic vision. This film is visually stunning, with gorgeous lighting and elegant sets. Unfortunately the subject matter, or maybe how the subject was dealt with, was just too silly to be taken seriously. A young, feminine looking man joins a Samurai clan, only to be lusted after by the older men of the group. We have endless discussions about who is lusting after the boy, who is sleeping with whom, and who is jealous. Grown men acting like spurned women, old men making fools of themselves by falling in love with an 18 year old boy. The fact that these men are Samurai warriors is just so ludicrous. Seeing men of this stature behaving like school girls bordered on sheer comedy. The actors mostly seem embarrassed and uncomfortable with the roles they are playing, and this viewer felt silly just watching it. This is an odd film, worth seeing for Oshima's special visual style. But I cannot recommend it as a good film. The script really destroys the whole production.

I want to comment on the geisha scene--one that is less than a minute long. There is more power, mystery, eroticism, history, suspense--and a whole bunch of other adjectives--in that one brief scene than in the entire movie Memoirs of a Geisha. Or any other movie I've ever seen with a geisha.* It is absolutely hypnotic and something you will never forget. And that's just a tiny fraction of this movie. Same sex relationships figure in the plot, so I count this as one of my ten best gay films. But it is not a gay film in any other sense except that the desire and love is for the same sex. The dialog is literate and witty, the characters are multi-dimensional, and the story has many levels. It is a meditation on beauty, obsession, jealousy, order, and disorder. This movie is fascinating, mysterious, and exquisite. What else could you possibly want?*EDIT: I learned from the message boards that the character is actually a high-ranked courtesan, not a geisha. For devotees of Japanese culture, this distinction is important; for us regular people, not so much.

I adored it. I watched it four times in a row and I was squealing with happiness and bawling my eyes out at the end.I love the portrait of Sozaburo, or rather the LACK of portrait of him. Even though he's the main character he's only seen through other's eyes and you never know what he's thinking or planning.The other characters are bloody brilliant, too. I really feel sorry for Tashiro, the only character I really feel for throughout the movie. It's obvious from the start that he loves Sozaburo (there is a really cute scene where that is obvious but I'm not telling since that's a SPOILER). I also really enjoy how the generals are portrayed, the scenery, the symbolism (which a friend had to explain cause I didn't get it first time we watched it)...All in all, brilliant movie which everybody should see! Well, not people who have a problem with gay men, but everybody else should see it.

Ïn 1865, in Kyoto, in a period of fights among different clans, Sozaburo Kano (Ryuhei Matsuda) and Hyozo Tashiro (Tadanobu Asano) join a samurai legion to be trained as warriors. The beauty of the manipulative Kano sexually attracts the other men, including high ranking commanders, and he becomes lover of Tashiro."Gohatto" is a weird movie for westerns like me, who are not familiarized with Japanese culture. However, it is a beautiful movie, with a stunning music score and a wonderful photography. Although I have not completely understood the plot, specially the conclusion of the story, I found this movie very intriguing and I liked it. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Tabu" (Taboo")