R.I.P. Nagisa Oshima

[Precious Doll]

Some of Oshima's films missing in action on DVD are rumored to be coming out through Criterion. Titles include some of his very best works: Boy, Death by Hanging, The Ceremony, amongst others.

[rudeboy]

I finished watching Diary of a Shinjuku Thief literally minutes before learning of his passing. Very sad news. While the film was a mixed bag for me (as was Gohatto - the only other Oshima movie I've seen to date) it was very much the work of a unique visionary.

[bizarre]

Oshima was one of the greatest directors to ever have lived - he revolutionised form, reinvented political cinema and remained a provocateur to the end. However making In the Realm of the Senses, a good film in its own right, may have been the greatest mistake for his legacy - as his most widely-available film in the West it gives unrealistic expectations for a career that is far more abstract, varied and politically engaged, and it represents him as a director instead of any of the 14 films he made between 1960 and 1969, perhaps the most consistently superlative yet diverse run of films ever made by any director. Leave In the Realm of the Senses, Empire of Passion and Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence for later, and familiarise yourself first with Japanese Summer: Double Suicide, Death by Hanging, The Ceremony, Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, Three Resurrected Drunkards or any of the other masterpieces he directed in his early period. That's the true, unadvertised Oshima.

[anonymous1980]

Story.

In the Realm of the Senses is something else, I must say!