NIGHT AND FOG IN JAPAN
With fortythree sequence shots that
evoke the past and the present during
a wedding feast, the film shows the
serious conflicts between the new
and old currents in Japanese left-wing
politics in 1960. A path fraught with
great political and aesthetic power.
Because of its harshness, Shochiku
withdrew the film from circulation after
only three days of programming; as
a result, the director left the company.
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
Nagisa Oshima
sceneggiatura/screenplay
Nagisa Oshima,
Toshiro Ishido
fotografia/cinematography
Takashi Kawamata
montaggio/film editing
Keiichi Uraoka
scenografia/
production design
Saburo Iwai
costumi/costume design
Koshichi Yoshida
musica/music
Riichiro Manabe
suono/sound
Shujuro Kurita
interpreti e personaggi/
cast and characters
Miyuki Kuwano
(Reiko Harada,
la sposa/Bride),
Fumio Watanabe (Haruaki
Nozawa, lo sposo/Groom),
Masahiko Tsugawa Ota,
l’amico della sposa/
Bride’s Friend)
produttore/producer
Tomio Ikeda
produzione/production
Shochiku Ofuna