Kokuho
Singapore Premiere
Lee Sang-il Japan 2025 175 min M18 (Sexual Scene)
Due to a lack of family connections to the kabuki establishment, a yakuza’s son struggles for decades to gain true recognition.
In this epic spanning five decades in post-war Japan, young and promising Kikuo is taken in and mentored by a prestigious Kabuki family. Yet between him and his master’s only son, Shunsuke, only one has the lineage required to become a kokuho (national treasure). As a result, Kikuo and Shunsuke’s relationship becomes complicated, with growth, sacrifice, brotherhood and betrayal dominating at various points.
Kokuho is a meditation on tradition and national identity, as well as the conflicts between continuity and change. The culmination of 15 years of work, the film is a gorgeous homage to kabuki and its past and future – majestic in scope and ambition, but never straying from humanity and intimacy.
Synopsis Writer: Daryl Cheong
7 Dec, Sun 10:00AM / 175 min
Golden Village Suntec, Hall 6
AT THE FEST!
All screenings are on a free seating, first-come, first-served basis. We kindly ask all ticket holders to arrive on time. Latecomers may not be guaranteed entry.
RUSH QUEUE:
For last-minute attendees, good news. Our Rush Queue is back this year!
Kokuho
国宝
Lee Sang-il
Japan
2025
Japanese
English
175 min
M18 (Sexual Scene)
Singapore Premiere
Lee Sang-il
Lee Sang-il is a Japanese director of Korean lineage known for directing critically acclaimed films like Hula Girls (2006) and Villain (2010), which won him numerous Japan Academy Film awards, and Unforgiven (2013) which premiered at Venice. Kokuho premiered at Cannes’s Directors’ Fortnight and is Japan’s second highest-grossing live action film of all time.
Ryo Yoshizawa,
Ryusei Yokohama,
Ken Watanabe
Chieko Murata
Shinzo Matsuhashi
