Just watched Gohatto (Taboo) directed in 1999 by Oshima Nagisa, his last film. It's about same-sex relations in the Shinsengumi, the Shogun's militia, in 1865. Kano, the archetypal bishonen, is one of two new recruits. Everyone has the hots for him, deadly hijinks ensue. The two senior officers, Kondo and Hijikata, are based on historical figures.
Andrew Grossman has some provacative things to say about Gohatto, which he reads as beautiful but not as radical as Oshima's earlier films. But he doesn't talk about the ending, in which it appears that Kano is murdered offscreen. Disruptive beauty must be punished.
The score is by Sakamoto Ryuichi.
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