27° TORINO FILM FESTIVAL

GISHIKI

THE CEREMONY
by Nagisa Oshima
Country: Japan
Year: 1971
Duration: 123'


THE CEREMONY
An allegorical rhapsody about
the disastrous story of a large Japanese
family that intertwines with the political
changes in post-war Japan and with
a mocking reflection on its own social
and sexual inadequacy. Marked by five
ceremonies (three funerals and two
weddings) that take place between
1947 and 1971, the film is the pinnacle
of Oshima’s reflections, aesthetics
and vision of Japan.

Biography

film director

Nagisa Oshima

Nagisa Ōshima (Tamano, Japan, 1931 - Fujisawa, Japan, 2013) is considered one of the maestros of Japanese cinema. An exponent of “nuberu bagu,” his films depict the contradictions of Japanese society since WWII, in which growing materialism is flanked by strict observance of centuries-old rules, generating oxymorons and irresolvable conflicts. His most important films include Cruel Story (1960); The Sun’s Burial (1960); Night and Fog in Japan (1960); The Ceremony (1971); In the Realm of the Senses (1976), a true sensation because of its explicit sexual content; Empire of Passion (1978), which won Best Director at Cannes; and Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983), which received a BAFTA for Best Score. His final film was Taboo (1999), presented in competition at Cannes. In 2009, the Torino Film Festival dedicated a complete retrospective to him.

FILMOGRAFIA

Seishun zankoku monogatari (Racconto crudele della giovinezza, 1960), Taiyō no hakaba (Il cimitero del sole, 1960), Nihon no yoru to kiri (Notte e nebbia in Giappone, 1960), Etsuraku (Il godimento, 1965), Muri shinju: Nihon no natsu (Japanese Summer: Double Suicide, 1967), Koshikei (Death by Hanging, 1968), Gishiki (La cerimonia, 1971), Ai no korīda (Ecco l’impero dei sensi, 1976), Ai no bōrei (L’impero della passione, 1978), Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Furyo, 1983), Max mon amour (Max amore mio, 1986), Gohatto (Tabù - Gohatto, 1999). 

Cast

& Credits

regia/director
Nagisa Oshima
sceneggiatura/screenplay
Takeshi Tamura, Mamoru
Sasaki, Nagisa Oshima
fotografia/cinematography
Toichiro Narushima
montaggio/film editing
Keiichi Uraoka
scenografia/
production design
Jusho Toda
musica/music
Toru Takemitsu
suono/sound
Hideo Nishizaki
interpreti e personaggi/cast
and characters
Kenzo Kawarazaki (Masuo
Sakurada), Atsuo Nakamura
(Terumichi Tachibana),
Atsuo Kaku (Ritsuko
Sakurada), Kiyoshi Tsuchiya
(Tadashi Sakurada),
Nobuko Otowa
(Shizu Sakurada)
produttori/producers
Kinshiro Kuzui, Takuji
Yamaguchi
produzione/production
Sozosha, ATG
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