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Like Kon Ichikawa's more well-known 1963 remake, Teinosuke Kinugasa's original version of An Actor's Revenge follows the exploits of a Kabuki onnagata (a male performer who plays female roles), seeking to avenge the deaths of his parents. Kinugasa's original version was a three-part epic lasting over 6 hours, but the only version that survives today is a pared down one that was released in the 1950s in order to capitalize on his growing international popularity. The famed onnagata performer Kasuo Hasegawa plays the hero, Yukinojo, and reprised the role 30 years later for Ichikawa.