Comment on Stills
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.
[The voice-over commentary on "Diary of a Yunbogi Boy"] smacks of an inept pastiche of the late Jimmy Cannon….
"Diary of a Yunbogi Boy" seeks to stroke the fires of rebellion with the lump in the throat that presumably arises in the presence of what is intended to be a touching study of an impoverished Korean boy.
With all its drawbacks, looking at [Godard's] "Letter to Jane" after watching "Diary of a Yunbogi Boy" is almost like standing in the presence of a Rembrandt after being exposed to one of those hollow-eyed Keane paintings.
Lawrence Van Gelder, "Comment on Stills," in The New York Times (© 1974 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), April 12, 1974 (and reprinted in The New York Times Film Reviews: 1973–1974, The New York Times Company & Arno Press, 1975, p. 158).
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Ritual, the Family and the State: A Critique of Nagisa Oshima's 'The Ceremony'
Nagisa Oshima
