Nagisa Ōshima

Directing

Nagisa Ōshima

Born March 31, 1932 · Okayama, Japan

Died January 15, 2013 · aged 80

Nagisa Ōshima (大島 渚, Ōshima Nagisa; 31 March 1932 – 15 January 2013) was a Japanese filmmaker, writer, and left-wing activist best known for his fiction feature films, of which he directed 23 in a career spanning from 1959 to 1999. He is often regarded as one of the greatest Japanese directors of all time, and as one of the most important figures of the Japanese New Wave, alongside Shōhei Imamura…

Known For

In the Realm of the SensesIn the Realm of the Senses · 1976
In the Realm of the Senses
6.61976
MovieDramaRomance
A passionate telling of the story of Sada Abe, a woman whose affair with her master led to an obsessive and ultimately destructive sexual relationship.
Merry Christmas, Mr. LawrenceMerry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence · 1983
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
7.31983
MovieDramaHistory
Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.
Empire of PassionEmpire of Passion · 1978
Empire of Passion
6.91978
MovieDramaRomance
A married woman and her lover murder her husband and dump his body into a well, but his ghost returns to haunt them as the local gossip intensifies.
TabooTaboo · 1999
Taboo
6.61999
MovieDramaHistory
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
Diary of a Shinjuku ThiefDiary of a Shinjuku Thief · 1969
Diary of a Shinjuku Thief
4.81969
MovieDramaComedy
In Tokyo's Shinjuku district, the lives of a young man prone to theft, a young woman he meets at a bookstore, and a kabuki actor intersect.
Mao Tse-Tung and the Cultural RevolutionMao Tse-Tung and the Cultural Revolution · 1969
Mao Tse-Tung and the Cultural Revolution
8.01969
MovieDocumentary
Nagisa Oshima's documentary details the rise of Chairman Mao during the revolution and shows the Communist Party's struggle and cultural upheaval. Made in 1969 for NTV station, this TV documentary also questions Mao's dictator tendency during the cultural revolution.
Pleasures of the FleshPleasures of the Flesh · 1965
Pleasures of the Flesh
5.81965
MovieDramaComedy
After committing murder, businessman Atsushi is blackmailed into keeping a suitcase of embezzled money. What follows is a descent into lustful, reckless actions and regret.
Cruel Story of YouthCruel Story of Youth · 1960
Cruel Story of Youth
6.61960
MovieRomanceDrama
A harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitchhiking to rob middle-class men.

Filmography

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CinématonCinématon · 1978
Cinématon
4.91978
MovieDocumentary
Cinématon is a 156-hour long experimental film by French director Gérard Courant. It was the longest film ever released until 2011. Composed over 36 years from 1978 until 2006, it consists of a series of over 2,821 silent vignettes (cinématons), each 3 minutes and 25 seconds long, of various celebrities, artists, journalists and friends of the director, each doing whatever they want for the allotted time. Subjects of the film include directors Barbet Schroeder, Nagisa Oshima, Volker Schlöndorff, Ken Loach, Benjamin Cuq, Youssef Chahine, Wim Wenders, Joseph Losey, Jean-Luc Godard, Samuel Fuller and Terry Gilliam, chess grandmaster Joël Lautier, and actors Roberto Benigni, Stéphane Audran, Julie Delpy and Lesley Chatterley. Gilliam is featured eating a 100-franc note, while Fuller smokes a cigar. Courant's favourite subject was a 7-month-old baby. The film was screened in its then-entirety in Avignon in November 2009 and was screened in Redondo Beach, CA on April 9, 2010.

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