The Cruel Stories of Nagisa Oshima

PAST EVENTS

The Sun’s Burial (Taiyo No Hakaba)
Repertory
Wed, April 1 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
BAM Rose Cinemas
 
Night and Fog in Japan (Nihon No Yoru To Kiri)
Repertory
Thu, April 2 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
BAM Rose Cinemas
 
Death by Hanging (Koshikei)
Repertory
Fri, April 3 at 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm
BAM Rose Cinemas
 
Pleasures of the Flesh (Etsuraku)
Repertory
Sat, April 4 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
BAM Rose Cinemas
 
Boy (Shonen)
Repertory
Sun, April 5 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
BAM Rose Cinemas
 

SERIES DESCRIPTION

Nagisa Oshima is a stylistic chameleon. Though moving easily between a wide range of genres and movements—from the stylized histrionics of Nicholas Ray, to Godardian new wave, to animé—his films are united by their unflinchingly radical politics and a delight in exploding prevailing taboos regarding sex and violence. Railing against the humanistic cinema of an earlier generation of Japanese titans like Ozu and Kurosawa, Oshima created films that were intensely critical of post-war Japanese society in their daring examinations of the country’s disaffected youth culture, capitalistic excess, and seedy criminal underbelly. One of the great provocateurs of world cinema whose films have been compared with those of contemporaries Godard and Buñuel, Oshima stands as perhaps Japan’s most important post-war filmmaker. Special thanks to James Quandt / Cinematheque Ontario for organizing this touring series. All films in Japanese with English subtitles.

RELATED LINKS

J. Hoberman on The Cruel Stories of Nagisa Oshima
"Anyone with any interest in radical film praxis, sexpol mishigas, or hardcore Japant-garde—and that should cover just about everybody—may want to visit BAM once a day for the next two weeks. Take this column as a doctor's note for your boss, teacher, or parents." More

Senses of Cinema on Nagisa Oshima
"Though the social and political upheavals that inspired much of his work have now passed from the headlines to the history books...his best films remain a potent testament to radical cinema's capacity to 'revolutionise consciousness' – one viewer at a time." More