world cinema

1. Franqie Chan Jia Yi
2014050035
Film & TV Group 1
Assignment 3 23/02/2015
Director of Japan
Nagisa Oshima
Nagisa Oshima, born in 31 March 1932, died in 15 January 2013. He actually studied political
history in Kyoto University. After he graduated, Nagisa Oshima was hired by a film production
company name Shochiku Ltd.
When he is in Shochiku Ltd, his has a rapid progress. He directed his own movie within time.
His debut film is A Town of Love and Hope in 1959. His career went smoothly due to the New
Wave movement in Japanese Cinema. His influence also developed swiftly.
The Cruel Story of Youth, The Sun’s Burial and Night And Fog In Japan all directed and written
by Nagisa Oshima in 1960. After this, Nagisa Oshima left Shochiku Ltd and launched his own
production company. He left because Shochiku withdrew the film from circulation by claiming
that the recent assassination of the Socialist Party leader, and there was a risk of unrest.
Due to that controversy of Night And Fog In Japan, a film about political, it is consider as
political memory and interpersonal dynamics of social movements. This film get a place of tenth
in 1960 Kinema Jumpo’s best films poll of Japanese critics but also able to get foreign supports.
The Catch, a movie based on a novella by Kenzaburo Oe is directed by Nagisa Oshima in 1961.
This movie is about the relationship between a wartime Japanese village and a captured African
American serviceman. This film may not count as Nagisa Oshima’s work but this have make an
thematic exploration of bigotry and xenophobia. This cause his later documentary Diary Of
Yunbogi and feature films Death by Hanging and Three Resurrected Drunkards have a greater
depth.
After that, Nagisa Oshima also involve in Television for some time, he released a series of
documentaries, one of the series that notable is Diary of Yunbogi in 1965. This series is made
based on the examination of the lives of street children in Seoul and it was made during the trip
of him to South Korea.

2. There is another unique work from Nagisa Oshima- Band of Ninja (1967). This is a manga by
Sampei Shirato. Nagima Oshima didn’t make it to film or animation, it just simply photograph
the drawing of Samper Shirato and add voices in it. Some documentaries of Oshima before also
use the same technique. The film was a modest critical and commercial success in Japan.
Oshima able to directed 3 features in 1968, the first is Death by Hanging, this movie is about a
young Korean being rape and murder. Second is Diary of a Shinjuku Theif , this film involve
sexual and political radicalism. The third one is Three Resurrected Drunkards, this film is about
a misadventure when three young Japanese men are mistaken for illegal Korean residents.
In 1971, Oshima directed another film – The Ceremony. This is a film that show satirical look at
Japanese attitudes that express in one of that scene that is a marriage ceremony has to go on
though the bride is not present. Another film that consider as one of the famous work of Oshima
realise in 1976, that is In The Realm Of The Senses. This is a film that content of sexual and it is
based on a real story that happened in Japan in 1930’s. Due to the controversy about this film
contain too many sexual sense, it has to transported to France to process it. Continue the film of
In The Realm Of The Senses, Oshima came out with another movie about sexual also name
Empire of Passion (1978), it is about two lovers sexual passion and murdering. In addition, this
made him achieve the Cannes Film Festival award for best director.
During 1983, Oshima made a partly English film, Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence successfully.
It was a comedy about a diplomat’s wife whose love affair with a chimpanzee is quietly
incorporated into an eminently civilised. He served as president of the Director Guild of Japan in
1980’s and 1990’s. He also won the inaugural Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Awards in
1960. There is a collection about Oshima’s essays and articles was published in English in 1993.
There is something unfortunate happen. Oshima suffered in a stroke in 1996. Nonetheless, he
still able to recover and made the film Taboo and this film consider as his last work as he get
more strokes after that. There is a last film that he planned but unable to finish it. He then die in
2013 January 15.
The information I get from him is from Wikipedia and IMBD, I admit that I copied some from it,
due to the reason I can’t summarize it because I think everything is point, but during the process,
I understand about this director. He wants to do his film, he doesn’t care about others critic
because he knows what he did is right. I watched his film, In The Realm Of The Senses,
although this film is full of sexual scene, but it has been shoot in a special way, not really many
directors has the courage to do this kind of movie. Though he get a lot of critics but he still
continue. The one thing I like about him is most of his film is directed and written by him. I think
he is a good director, a perfect director. Another movie I watch is Taboo or known as Gohatto, a
samurai film. This film is the last film of him during his sickness time. He didn’t give up but still

3. continue. This is a spirit that others should learned from him. I feel so sad that he not able to
finish his final movie.