Movie Digest
Katsushika Hokusai, who created over 30,000 works in his career, has left behind scant materials concerning his life and has relied on anecdotes to fill in the gaps. HOKUSAI was built with a different view and perspective based on a tiny variety of historical facts and took roughly three years to design. He creates a story based on the episort of the writer, Yanagitei Tanehiko, that led to the creation of “Human / Hokusai” and the “secret of three waves.”
The Feel-Good Part
Much of the early half of the film takes place in the perilous gloom of geisha houses, a sanctuary for art trade. The private rooms are suitably enticing, with luxurious linens covered in images of peacocks, fanned tails recreated in painstaking detail, and a warm colour palette of bright reds and vibrant blues. It also expands the canvas to depict a time when many components of popular culture were deemed “morally corrupt” and violently suppressed. The subject matter and larger viewpoint should appeal to fans of art films such as Renoir (2012) and At Eternity’s Gate (2018)
The Disappointing Factor
Any biography of the prolific, long-lived Hokusai is beset by the problem of deciding what to include. Despite the fact that he was a captivating artistic icon, I felt the film did him no honour. It lacked the filmmaker’s heart and confidence. There were many nice and startling moments, but it didn’t all come together, and the large gaps in his life on screen were damaging to the picture. There are a lot of positive aspects to Hokusai, from the casting to the aesthetics, but when it comes down to it, the film lacks focus and doesn’t have anything to say to its audience.
In-Depth Analysis
Hokusai is a gifted painter, yet he lives on the verge of starvation. Tsutaya Juzaburo, a well-known ukiyo-e publisher, discovers him one day. As artists like Utamaro and Sharaku acquired prominence, Hokusai’s confidence waned, but Juzaburo encouraged him to develop his own voice, allowing his skill to blossom. Then Hokusai discovers that his friend, dramatist Ryutei Tanehiko, was assassinated by the government for refusing to obey the government’s ban on his work. Hokusai, enraged, vows to sacrifice his life in order to make a work worthy of his steadfast friend.
Star Power
Hasimoto makes his imprint where it counts, creating tension from a writer’s terrible death and finding melancholy in a fantasy moment in which the young and old Hokusai collaborate, painters in complete sync with one distinct voice. Hasimoto respects the protagonist and supports the plot with a reserved and unshowy demeanour.
Overall Opinion
This theatrical recounting of Hokusai’s life features a star-studded cast and is based on extensive investigation of historical sources, with dramatic scenes of extreme weather serving as spectacular emphasis throughout the film.
