27° TORINO FILM FESTIVAL

KOSHIKEI

DEATH BY HANGING
by Nagisa Oshima
Country: Japan
Year: 1968
Duration: 117'


DEATH BY HANGING
Based on the mysterious case
of a brilliant, well-educated young
Korean who was hung in 1963 for
having raped and murdered two
women. A glitch in the execution
of the death sentence convinces
the execution committee to let the
condemned man relive the events.
Brecht and the theatre of the absurd
are re-elaborated in a unique film about
Korean identity, crime and capital
punishment.

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,
Michinori Fukao,
Nagisa Oshima
fotografia/cinematography
Yasuhiro Yoshioka
montaggio/film editing
Sueko Shiraishi
musica/music
Hikaru Hayashi
suono/sound
Hideo Nishizaki
interpreti e personaggi/
cast and characters
Yun-do Yun (R, condannato
a morte/Convict),
Kei Sato (il direttore della
prigione/Prison Governor),
Fumio Watanabe
(l’ufficiale istruttore/
Education Officer),
Rokko Toura
(l’ufficiale medico/Doctor)
produttori/producers
Masayuki Nakajima, Takuji
Yamaguchi, Nagisa Oshima
produzione/production
Sozosha, ATG
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