Film Center's Salute to Oshima Starts Oct. 3

By Joel Wicklund in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 28, 2014 6:00PM

Scene from “Boy” (Image: © Oshima Productions)

When Nagisa Oshima died last year, the vast majority of obituaries focused on his sexually explicit and disturbing In the Realm of the Senses (1976). It remains a shocking, yet serious, work, equally provocative and alienating on many different levels. Yet with more than fifty directorial credits and a reputation as one of Japan's greatest filmmakers, Oshima obviously shouldn't be reduced to a single film shorthand of his career.

The Gene Siskel Film Center's series, "Nagisa Oshima: His Will on Film" (Oct. 3 to Oct. 29) includes In the Realm of the Senses, but also seven other features, including five in newly struck 35mm prints. While one could argue the series should have included more of his prolific documentary work, much of that was made for television, so arguably (as I haven't seen his TV work) there is a more cinematic focus with the films selected.

Probably the next Oshima film most familiar to American audiences is Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), a P.O.W. drama pitting two innovative music stars against each other: David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto. (That film is also showing as part of Doc Films autumn series.)

Empire of Passion (1978) was marketed successfully as a follow-up to In the Realm of the Senses, but it's less explicit and a more traditional narrative, telling the story of adulterous lovers haunted by the ghost of the woman’s husband. The movie won Best Director honors for Oshima at the Cannes Film Festival that year.

The other five films in the series are much less frequently revived for big screen showings and so perhaps the ones curious movie buffs will want to prioritize: Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (1968), Boy (1969), The Ceremony (1971), The Man Who Left His Will On Film (1970), and Death by Hanging (1968). Summaries and show times for all the films in the series are available here.