144-150 Radical Japan: Cinema and State - Nine Films by Nagisa Oshima

[Big Ben]

Yeah, I’d almost say Oshima has more in common with Mishima despite the political differences.

Oshima actually debated Mishima publicly at a college campus (Oshima was a bit of a folk hero of sorts on campus!) and the two men's animus towards one another's political beliefs was well known. Oshima caused a "minor" controversy when he proceeded to get quite drunk at one of these debates when he referred to Japan as "this country" rather than "our country". Mishima, as I recall was no where near as popular with the students as he would have liked.

For obvious reasons Oshima was an ardent critic of Bushido and given how Mishima ultimately went out I think it's safe to say Oshima had quite a bit more political sense.

[hearthesilence]

I've only seen Death By Hanging and Boy, and honestly if this were seven titles instead of a single box set, I'd have bought those two masterpieces and held off on the rest. EDIT: Missed The Ceremony, would have picked that up too.

[therewillbeblus]

I enjoyed Death By Hanging much more than I expected to. I'd watched the Criterion once upon a time but apparently remembered very little from it, and the lukewarm Oshima takes in this thread made me somewhat regret my purchase. But the film easily won me over, by taking its absurd premise to such heights. Yes there are a few moments where the politics of the film start to beat you over the head, but the absurdity I find balances it out quite well (going from trying to explain why rape is wrong to the rooftop chase soon after, for example).

I'm still not 100% what to make of the film's politics, and the link between Japanese treatment of Koreans and R's stripping of identity as explaining his crimes and I may have missed a line or two of dialogue towards the end. But I actually really enjoyed this one.

It's easily my favorite Oshima. I recall the satire being so rich it leads to disturbing connotations and ultimately becomes so broad in its approach that I also don't know what to make of it all, but I love it's 'throw everything at the wall' strategy. It really works.

[Peacock]

I've only seen Death By Hanging and Boy, and honestly if this were seven titles instead of a single box set, I'd have bought those two masterpieces and held off on the rest. EDIT: Missed The Ceremony, would have picked that up too.

What didn’t you like about Shinjuku Thief or Man Who Left His Will on Film out of interest?

[hearthesilence]

I've only seen Death By Hanging and Boy, and honestly if this were seven titles instead of a single box set, I'd have bought those two masterpieces and held off on the rest. EDIT: Missed The Ceremony, would have picked that up too.

What didn’t you like about Shinjuku Thief or Man Who Left His Will on Film out of interest?

I didn't dislike them, as mentioned I haven't seen them so I would've been reluctant to buy them on their own.

[Peacock]

Apologies I misunderstood your previous post, oh there’s plenty of great films in the set. I controversially think The Ceremony is one of the weakest! So if you loved that one the only way is up.

[Drucker]

I watched Shinjuku Thief a few weeks ago and found it to be a total slog. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for it, but it did nothing for me, and I found the ambiguity and evolution of the film painful rather than thought-provoking. It hasn't stuck with me at all. Boy on the other hand lived up to the hype and then some that I've built up in the ten years since learning about the film. Like Death By Hanging it uses an absurd premise and repeatedly plays it over and over to dramatic effect. Whereas that film obviously does so satirically, however, Boy does so to a devastating effect. I haven't yet dived into the extras, but the epilogue makes clear that the theme of the film is the lasting impact of a broken home and what it means for society writ large. I'm not sure I loved the need to emphasize the ending that way

Spoiler

explaining that both of the boy's parents were also victims of broken upbringings

and almost found the film more powerful without it. Ultimately, I found the film incredibly moving.

Can I also just say that this film is one of the most gorgeous transfers I've ever seen? The three newer restorations I've watched in the set are all beautiful, but Boy is on another level. The color photography is sublime, and the way the film moves as we watch cars cross a bridge or the clouds in the sky of a monochrome shot is just beautiful. Oshima uses the widescreen frame to an incredible effect of the film, whether putting you in the dazed POV of one of the characters or emphasizing the space between them. Here the film's style really does start to complement the narrative in my opinion.

[Big Ben]

Boy is the Oshima film I recommend to people who don't like Oshima because I'm consistently pleased to see how moving people find it. Be sure to watch it's sort of companion piece Diary of a Yunbogi Boy. It's one those things that really serves as a reminder that extreme poverty is something we all like to conveniently ignore because we all have a warm bed at the end of the day. It is also a real world documentation of why Oshima made so many films around poverty and Anti-Korean sentiment in the late sixties.

[zedz]

Boy on the other hand lived up to the hype and then some that I've built up in the ten years since learning about the film. Like Death By Hanging it uses an absurd premise and repeatedly plays it over and over to dramatic effect.

Based on a true story, apparently.

[Finch]

From Radiance's social media:

Pour one out for RADICAL JAPAN: CINEMA AND STATE, our 9-film box set of Nagisa Oshima, which has just sold out fully on our site after being released only last November. Copies might still be available from other retailers, but it will no longer be restocked by us directly.

[Peacock]

Here’s to many more Radical Japan sets!

[Drucker]

I quite enjoyed The Man Who Left His Will on Film. Though the form of it resembled Shinjiku Thief which I found vague to a fault, this was easier to latch on to. I enjoyed the self-criticism during he landscape shots after the student protests, which show Oshima obviously engaging with real feedback. And the extras go into more detail about the background of these shots. In the extra with the lead actor, he describes some of the landscape shots as sharing "thoughts" (or was it "feelings?") Either way I loved that little detail about the use of this kind of footage in film.

I'll also just say the score for this film is superb. I had to look up the composer and felt a bit dumb after seeing his credits, but the music in the early scenes of this film.

[goblinfootballs]

I quite enjoyed The Man Who Left His Will on Film. Though the form of it resembled Shinjiku Thief which I found vague to a fault, this was easier to latch on to. I enjoyed the self-criticism during he landscape shots after the student protests, which show Oshima obviously engaging with real feedback. And the extras go into more detail about the background of these shots. In the extra with the lead actor, he describes some of the landscape shots as sharing "thoughts" (or was it "feelings?") Either way I loved that little detail about the use of this kind of footage in film.

I'll also just say the score for this film is superb. I had to look up the composer and felt a bit dumb after seeing his credits, but the music in the early scenes of this film.

There's an insightful reading of The Man Who Left HIs Will on Film in the context of landscape theory in Yuriko Furuhata's Japanese Avant-Garde Filmmaking in the Season of Image Politics.