Nagisa Oshima Criticism
Nagisa Oshima, a pioneering Japanese director and screenwriter, is renowned for his bold exploration of post-war Japanese society and its moral complexities. His films frequently critique the country's social conventions through themes of youth disorientation, crime, and human sexuality. As observed by Ian Cameron, Oshima's works disrupt traditional genre norms, focusing more on intellectual engagement than emotional responses.
Oshima founded his production company, Sozosha, in 1962, where he began producing films like Diary of a Shinjuku Thief and Death by Hanging, which challenge conventional truths by presenting multiple perspectives and questioning moral assumptions. Donald Richie highlights how Death by Hanging uses Brechtian techniques to tackle themes like capital punishment and racial discrimination.
Oshima's film Boy critiques Japanese nationalism and societal structures, as noted by Philip Strick, through a family staging accidents for insurance money, symbolizing the inherent violence in Japanese life. The film's portrayal of social isolation within the family unit is further discussed by Margaret Tarratt.
His most controversial work, In the Realm of the Senses, delves into the nature of eroticism and was briefly shown at the New York Film Festival before being confiscated for its explicit content. The film raises questions about obscenity and the political implications of sexual obsession, as Tony Rayns suggests.
Oshima's Empire of Passion, which won him the best director award at Cannes, received mixed reviews. It is a companion piece to In the Realm of the Senses, intertwining love and death as a societal critique. Robert Hatch lauds its aesthetic beauty and emotional depth, while J. Hoberman critiques it for failing to maintain thematic depth.
Oshima's films, characterized by their daring narratives and thematic boldness, continue to provoke discussion about the intersections of culture, politics, and human behavior, as Joan Mellen explores in her analysis of his critique of Japanese family and societal structures.
Contents
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The Festival and Awards Game: Unmagnificent Seventh
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In the following essay, John Simon critiques Nagisa Oshima's film Boy for its superficial use of Western avant-garde techniques in portraying a mundane story, ultimately concluding that the film lacks depth and fails to meaningfully explore the psychological impacts on its characters.
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'Koshikei' ('Death by Hanging')
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In the following essay, Donald Richie examines Nagisa Oshima's film Koshikei (Death by Hanging), highlighting its exploration of capital punishment and racial discrimination against Koreans in Japan through a Brechtian narrative that challenges the audience's perceptions of justice and guilt.
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Film Reviews: 'Boy'
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In the following essay, Philip Strick examines Nagisa Oshima's film Boy as a critique of Japan's militant nationalism and paternalistic society, highlighting its themes of familial victimization, muted emotional expression, and the tension between truth and deception, presented through a direct and observational style.
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Film Guide: 'The Boy'
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In the following essay, Margaret Tarratt critiques Nagisa Oshima's The Boy, highlighting its portrayal of social isolation and alienation within the family unit, the symbolic use of color and monochrome as a window into the boy's dream world, and the film's effectiveness when focusing on everyday melancholy rather than symbolic grandeur.
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Reviews: 'Diary of a Shinjuku Thief'
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In the following essay, Gordon Gow critiques Nagisa Oshima's film "Diary of a Shinjuku Thief," arguing that while the film attempts to symbolize Japan's need to overcome social inhibitions through its characters' sexual struggles, it ultimately remains more erotic than politically allegorical and suffers from erratic style and technical inconsistencies.
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Nagisa Oshima
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In the following essay, Ian Cameron examines Nagisa Oshima's films, highlighting their departure from traditional genre norms through extreme depictions of violence, a focus on the intellectual over emotional engagement, and a complex interplay of reality and fantasy that challenges conventional narrative structures and themes of post-war Japanese society.
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Film Reviews: 'Death by Hanging'
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In the following essay, David Wilson argues that Nagisa Oshima's film "Death by Hanging" explores the interplay between reality and fiction, challenging viewers' perceptions of truth and reality through its depiction of contradictions, the political and personal dimensions of crime, and the nature of film itself.
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'The Man Who Left His Will on Film' and 'The Ceremony'
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In the following essay, Peter Cowie examines Nagisa Oshima's films "The Man Who Left His Will on Film" and "The Ceremony," highlighting their exploration of student protests and Japanese ceremonial traditions, respectively, and asserts Oshima's unique ability to reflect contemporary societal tensions while grappling with historical legacies.
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Roadside Refreshment
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In the following essay, Judith Crist argues that Nagisa Oshima's film The Ceremony is an incoherent and tedious melodrama appealing primarily to cineastes, despite its attempt to act as a parable of Japanese history.
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Oshima Work Brings Memory of Godard
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In the following essay, Vincent Canby critiques Nagisa Oshima's film "Death by Hanging" for its initially provocative treatment of capital punishment, but ultimately finds its broadening scope and stylistically Godardian approaches lead to confusion and a dated quality reminiscent of 1960s cinema.
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Ritual, the Family and the State: A Critique of Nagisa Oshima's 'The Ceremony'
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In the following essay, Ruth McCormick argues that Nagisa Oshima's film "The Ceremony" serves as a revolutionary critique of authoritarianism in Japanese society, exploring themes of ritual, family dynamics, and the tension between tradition and modernity, ultimately presenting a vision of hope and potential for societal change through artistic imagination.
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Comment on Stills
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In the following essay, Lawrence Van Gelder critiques "Diary of a Yunbogi Boy" as an unsuccessful attempt to evoke sympathy and social rebellion, likening its impact unfavorably to both Jimmy Cannon's work and the art of Godard, implying a lack of depth and substance.
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Nagisa Oshima
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In the following essay, Claire Johnston argues that Nagisa Oshima's films, characterized by their exploration of crime, societal disorganization, and fantasy, critique traditional Japanese values and nationalism, while proposing that revolutionary change and a new societal mode can emerge from the youthful generation's imaginative engagement with their world.
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From Brecht to Film: Theses, Problems
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In the following essay, Stephen Heath contends that Nagisa Oshima's film Dear Summer Sister engages with political themes by exploring the contradictions of Japanese history and identity, using its narrative to question what it means to be Japanese today while addressing issues of imperialism and personal relationships.
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Tony Rayns on 'In the Realm of the Senses'
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In the following essay, Tony Rayns explores how Nagisa Oshima's film In the Realm of the Senses employs a bold analysis of sexual passion intertwined with Japanese erotic traditions, challenging political passivity by deliberately excluding socio-political themes while highlighting cultural authenticity and fatalistic elements.
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Narrative Space
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In the following essay, Stephen Heath examines the political and narrative complexity in Nagisa Oshima's films, highlighting their unique approach of disrupting traditional forms and content to challenge unity and subject representation.
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'In the Realm of the Senses'
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In the following essay, Ruth McCormick explores Nagisa Oshima's film In the Realm of the Senses as a groundbreaking portrayal of eroticism, highlighting its avoidance of voyeurism, its non-political yet subtly subversive narrative, and its celebration of life force amidst societal norms, positioning it as a utopian glimpse in reactionary times.
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Reviews: 'L'empire des sens'
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In the following essay, Michael Silverman argues that Nagisa Oshima's film L'Empire des Sens critiques romantic desire by focusing on raw sexuality and possession, exploring themes of obsession, mystery, and the symbolic significance of death in the perpetuation of desire.
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The Structures of Oshima
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In the following essay, Joan Mellen explores Nagisa Oshima's critical portrayal of the Japanese family and societal structures, emphasizing Oshima's use of filmic techniques to criticize political and social repression, the disillusionment of youth, and the enduring impact of Japan's historical and cultural legacy on its modern identity.
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Senses and Nonsenses
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In the following essay, Stanley Kauffmann criticizes Nagisa Oshima's film In the Realm of the Senses for its reliance on heavy symbolism, superficial aesthetic choices, and its failure to transcend its portrayal of mere physiological phenomena, ultimately deeming it a sentimentally fallacious and voyeuristic work.
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Is 'Senses' in the Realm of Pornography?
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In the following essay, Joan Mellen argues that Nagisa Oshima's film "In the Realm of the Senses" transcends Western pornography by depicting a uniquely Japanese sensuality that emphasizes mutual pleasure and liberation from societal constraints, ultimately portraying a bygone era of Japanese culture characterized by uninhibited, joyous sexuality and free from shame.
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Eye Poppers
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In the following essay, John Simon argues that Nagisa Oshima's film In the Realm of the Senses is a poorly executed attempt at depicting passionate love, marred by a lack of artistic and psychological depth, excessive focus on sexual content, and a failure to convey genuine passion or humor.
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'Ai no borei' ('Empire of Passion')
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In the following essay, Peter Cowie argues that Nagisa Oshima's film Ai no borei uses a ghost story to explore the complexities of free love amidst societal constraints, highlighting the tension between desire and guilt, and intertwining themes of death and sexual ecstasy.
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Sympathy for the Devil
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In the following essay, J. Hoberman critiques Nagisa Oshima's Empire of Passion as a lackluster follow-up to In the Realm of the Senses, arguing that it begins with promise but ultimately devolves into a poorly executed narrative that fails to sustain its initial intrigue and thematic depth.
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Films: 'Empire of Passion'
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In the following essay, Robert Hatch explores Nagisa Oshima's film Empire of Passion, highlighting its aesthetic beauty and emotional depth, and argues that Oshima successfully evokes horror and pity through the timeless themes of passion and retribution in a culturally distinct narrative.