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This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

HIMIKO. Viewed on Streaming. Restoration/preservation = ten (10) stars; cinematography and lighting = ten (10) stars; set design = ten (10) stars; subtitles = eight (8) stars; music = three (3) stars; choreography = one (1) star. Director Masahiro Shinoda (who is also credited as co-writer) presents his take on the life and times of the ancient Sun Goddess Himiko (a shaman/medium and translator for the Sun God) who actually existed and ruled a chunk of Japan circa 200 AD. It seems to be a time of many deities limited only by the imaginations and political ambitions of those who invented them. The photo play deals with several including the Sun God, the Land God, and the Mountain God. Perhaps the most influential deity, however, is the Drug Dealer God! The cast and especially the "dancers" often seem to be high (and the film was made during the psychedelic 1970s!). Shinoda depicts the Queen as having epileptic fits and simulated orgasms (and, perhaps, drug trips) when making predictions and speaking for the Sun God. The Director also tosses in incest (Himiko seduces her half-brother) and ceremonial on-the-go orgies. There are many scenes of women with white-painted faces wearing spotless white robes wandering around the forest (rural homeless geisha prototypes?). Overall, this is a Kabuki-like play striving to be a Shakespearian-like tragedy, not a movie. Acting is so-so with most "dialog" consisting of voice-over expositions. Sort of like listening to a radio play of years ago. Surprisingly, this cinematic nonsensical mess boasts excellent cinematography (narrow screen, color) and lighting plus drop-dead art direction and set design. Interiors consist of eye-popping surreal art deco sets (about 1,700 years ahead of their time!). Restoration/preservation is outstanding. Subtitles are close enough. Music is unimaginative and consists of one or a few instruments. It stays in the background (where it belongs!). Choreography is a grade-school-level joke! A film that gives history a bad name! Highly unrecommended. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

First off: much thanks to IMDb users mevmijaumau and psteier for their enlightening reviews on 'Himiko'. Personally, I couldn't think of more than 'Shakespearian' as far as the story is concerned. And the ending must have inspired M. Night Shyamalan for 'The village' (2004), right?Back to 'Himiko'. A wonderful, but rather extreme (violence, incest) tale of a couple of Japanese clans who are at war with each other. Was it just the 'land' people versus the 'sun' people? I thought there were 'mountain' in there, too? Or are they the same as the 'land' people? I'm not sure, as I am unsure about many other details. A good excuse to watch it again sometime, because beyond the story, this is a terrific, vivid piece of cinema that deserves to be seen more than once.I especially enjoyed the various costumes (the court men, or the ones 'dressed in grass'), but also the settings and the long, impressive monologues and the elaborate punishment (of Takehiko) scene. But perhaps that is unfair toward all the other scenes, because it was all captivating.An impressive ancient tale with a modern twist at the end. 9 out of 10.

I like movies about shintoism, but it's really surprising how few of them are in circulation. New Wave director Masahiro Shinoda's movie Himiko, winner of the 1974 Strangest Poster Contest, is not a direct recounting of shinto myths, but instead a tweaked, re-imagined biography of shaman queen Himiko, here played by Shinoda's wife Shima Iwashita. Shinoda strays far from official history to create an author's take on power, sexuality and religion, mixing elements from both ancient Chinese and Japanese sources, with an affinity for slight surrealism.The movie's plot line has some similarities with actual shinto myths, most notably the one where the Sun goddess Amaterasu gets into an argument with her brother Susanoo, so she hides in a cave, letting the world fall into darkness now that she can't provide sunlight anymore. She is then tricked out of the cave and the world becomes bright again. In the film, Himiko falls in love with her half-brother Takehiko, but arguments ensue and she has him killed, while she is kept away from the public eye. She is killed by the courtmen and replaced by an oracle girl, who raises the mirror (Amaterasu's symbol) and proclaims that she is indeed Himiko, who likely got reincarnated. The camera pans way back and up, to reveal a contemporary landscape to remind of the history's progress through repetition.Of course, that's not all. Shinoda's film is also a comment on patriarchy and the gap between sexuality and political/religious duties. The first scene of the film even has Himiko indulge in a ritual where she orgasms by having the mirror reflect the sunlight on her genitals. While the film is cryptic, it's not outright undecipherable, and the sheer amount of exposition thankfully helps not to get completely lost in the world of inside shinto-references, with kabuki and butoh elements (butoh dancer Tatsumi Hijikata and the members of the troupe also appear in the film). The music was done by Toru Takemitsu, a frequent collaborator with Shinoda.The movie's visual style is amazing. It's like a mixture of Eastern mysticism, Jodorowsky and Fellini in his surreal period. The outrageous costumes and the red-white color palette, the shadow play, the expressionistic color compositions - wow. I also really liked the design of Himiko's palace, really stunning. I was also impressed by the image of Takehiko standing in the forest with a dozen arrows through him, or of Himiko in that beautiful shaman dress/make-up, visiting the forest with her servants.

An imagined life of the prehistoric Japanese Queen Himiko, based loosely on a few mentions in Chinese chronicles. Himiko is presented as the head priestess of the Sun Goddess cult and a spirit medium. This cult later was used by the Japanese Imperial family as their claim to rule. Himiko is made queen when the king is killed, but lets the men around her rule. She is then deposed and killed because she lusts after her half-brother, who is more interested in Adahime, who supports the Earth Goddess.Done in modern style, with little effort made to have the costumes, the sets and the lighting be as they would be at the time. The Japanese language and characters' motivation seem modern also.Butoh dancer Tatsumi Hijikata and members of his troupe seem to add a touch along the lines of what one expects in a Fellini picture, but dance historians may be interested.