Oshima at the Cinematheque Ontario

Nagisa Oshima came to world attention with his pornographic hit at Cannes IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES (1976).  A rebel filmmaker who never sticks to conventions constantly challenging the rules of both cinema and traditional, Oshima has an enormous body of work from the 60’s to the 90’s.  After suffering a stroke, he made the first gay samurai (and probably the only) movie in history in 1999 following his gay subtexted MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. LAWRENCE, both films of which will be screened at the Cinematheque Ontario.

His early works are included in the series from BOY, CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH to the difficult and less accessible though no less interesting THE MAN WHO LEFT HIS WILL ON FILM.  Viewing his films in chronological order helps one see how Oshima changed in his outlook on the world.

For complete schedule of Oshima films, show times and venue, check the Cinematheque Ontario website at:-

http://www.cinemathequeontario.ca

The series begins on Oct 31st with the screening of CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH and ends on Saturday December 6th with the screening of his latest film GOHATTO (TABOO).

Oshima is currently living in Japan.

Below are capsule reviews of a few of the Oshima films that will be screened.

(Capsule reviews for IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES and PLEASURES OF THE FLESH will be posted mid-November)

Screeners courtesy of:
Cinematheque Ontario and Mr. Oliver Groom

BOY (SHONEN) (Japan 1969) ****
Directed by Nagisa Oshima

BOY is a film about a family not for the family.  Based on a true story, BOY is the innocent looking 10-year old trained to jump in front of cars to get hurt so that the father (played by the director himself) and stepmother can con drivers into paying up.  As this is the family’s only source of income, the film can be looked upon as child exploitation, made worse with the father taunting and lying to the boy constantly.  Oshima makes matters more unacceptable by having the stepmother substantiate the reasons for such behaviour.  In contrast, the little step brother is still too young to comprehend while the stepmother is forced to undergo an abortion.  Oshima shoots the film with the camera often pulled back as if the audience can look at the family from a distance with horror.  The unnerving violin score adds to the uneasiness of the situation while the film’s bright colours add irony to the situation at hand.

CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH (NAKED YOUTH) (Japan 1960) ***
Directed by Nagisa Oshima

Oshima’s second feature CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH sums it up in its title.  Oshima’s camera follows two young lovers (the girl is still in school while the boy is a drifter) as they make love, fight and live what they believe is the best of what they can do of their lives.  As Oshima makes it clear from the beginning, the joie de vivre of youth has its pitfalls.  For one, the girl is in search of a love relationship while the boy has just dumped his previous girl and in search for a new one.  And money is the other object.  The couple scams not-so-innocent bystanders out of money (similar to the family in BOY).  Oshima brings in family, school and social issues into his tale making it a heartfelt tale of lost youth. 

GOHATTO (TABOO) (Japan 1999) ****
Directed by Nagasi Oshima

GOHATTO (TABOO) marks the director’s first film after suffering a stroke.  Once again Oshima tackles a topic that goes against convention.  GOHATTO, touted as the first gay samurai movie is set in the spring of 1865 in Kyoto. At a temple, the militia is choosing two new recruits, one of which is a very handsome young man, Sozaburo Kano (Ryuhei Matsuda) whose bewitching good looks brings out the hidden desires of the men. The militia becomes prey to rumours, jealousies, sex and murder, all deliciously evil things fouling up the rigid rules and regulations. Oshima’s camera and Toyomichi Kurita’s ("The Moderns” and “Cookie’s Fortune") cinematography are breathtaking. The first encounter between the Captain, another handsome warrior (Shinji Takeda) and Kano is shown from the point of fleeting glances amidst the kendo fight. After the camera rests for a few seconds on Kano’s sultry good looks, the dialogue and mood changes from the recruitment to a sexual tension. But the film’s theme is not that of forbidden love, nor is it of a critique of the strict code of conduct of the militia. Rather, the film can be considered a contemplation of the loss of an era, the downfall of the samurai. This is paralleled first by latent homosexuality - referred to in the film as that kind of leaning - leading to unrest, then to murder and ultimately, (not shown but implied) the sad end of that period.  An art film, GOHATTO is graceful in its camera movements and wonderfully crafted in all departments, particularly in photography and music.

THE MAN WHO LEFT HIS WILL ON FILM (Japan 1970) ***
Directed by Nagisa Oshima

Described by many critics as Oshima essential viewing, THE MAN WHO LEFT HIS WILL ON FILM is experimental, containing most of the elements found in his later films.  His characters are again violent, highly sexual, political (leftists in this case) and even more so.  Oshima demonstrates his fondness for youth, the media (which affects both the story and protagonists), water and woman slapping.  The film begins with a riddle of a reel of film confiscated by the police after a supposed suicide.  But does this ‘dead’ man exist or not?  The protagonist does not believe so and seeks to solve the mystery with the help of the dead man’s girlfriend and the film student activist group.  But Oshima is not interested in the solution but instead takes the viewer for a wild ride with segments that often do not make logical sense and questions the distinction between reality and fiction.  The result is both an intriguing and confusing (depends how one wants to look at it) film that poses more questions than answers.

MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. LAWRENCE (UK/Japan 1983) ****
Directed by Nagisa Oshima

The complex MERRY CHRISTMAS MR.LAWRENCE shows director Oshima at his best in bridging the gap between narrative storytelling and his experimental films showing his artistic desire to go against conventional rules.  The story, set in Java in a WWII prisoner-of-war camp, weaves its tale among 4 characters, two Japanese and two whites.  The Mr. Lawrence (Tom Conti) of the film title is the soldiers’ liaison officer who is able to speak Japanese, having lived in Japan prior to his capture.  A decent fellow, he tries to help his captors understand the British while having a soft spot for Japanese culture.  The camp’s status quo is disrupted with the arrival of a new British soldier, Jack Celliers (David Bowie) who arouses the latent sexual feelings of Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto).  Oshima shows a clear distaste for Japanese beliefs while pitting one culture against the other, with no obvious solutions.  Each (especially the Japanese) is bound to follow the code of conduct of their society.  This is arguably Oshima’s most moving film as witnessed in the film’s last kissing scene.  The film is accompanied by the now famous, haunting musical score ‘Forbidden Colors’ (written by Sakamoto himself).  Oshima revisits the gay theme in a military setting with the gay samurai drama GOHATTO (TABOO) also shown during the Oshima retrospective.