Product Description
Released May 2013. NTSC, Region Code All, English Commentary and booklet notes. 110 mins (main programme) + 23 minutes (special feature on 50 selected works of Kabuki). Colour. Filmed June 2009.
Kataoka Nizaemon XV (born 1944) is one of the most popular Kabuki actors today. Kataoka Takataro (born 1968) is a talented, young onnagata. Kataoka Hidetaro (born 1941) is another young onnagata in the Kamigata Kabuki tradition. Nakamura Baijaku is a popular actor known for his dancing skills.
Premiered in 1721, Onna Goroshi Abura no Jigoku, (The Lady Killer and an Oil Hell) was not adapted to Kabuki until 1907. The story centres on Yohei, the son of an oil merchant in Osaka, called Tokubei. Yohei has got into trouble by accidently throwing mud at a high ranking samurai, and borrowing money in his father's name. He asks the wife of the owner of the Teshimaya oil store, Okichi, for money, and after she refuses he kills her. At the memorial service at the Teshimaya oil shop, evidence comes to light that Yohei killed her. He is arrested by those present including a policeman.
