THE CATCH
Based on a novel by the Nobel
prize-winner Kenzaburo Oe, the film
s an intense portrait of Japanese
hypocrisy and xenophobia. During
the last summer of WWII, a black
American pilot is captured by the
inhabitants of a village and soon
becomes the scapegoat for all their
problems. Oshima’s first film after
leaving Shochiku.
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
soggetto/story
dall’omonimo romanzo di/
from the novel of the same
title by Kenzaburo Oe
sceneggiatura/screenplay
Takeshi Tamura
fotografia/cinematography
Yoshitsugu Tonegawa
montaggio/film editing
Miyuri Miyamori
scenografia/
production design
Saburo Iwai
musica/music
Riichiro Manabe
suono/sound
Michio Okazaki
interpreti e personaggi/
cast and characters
Rentaro Mikuni (Kazumasa
Takano, un proprietario
terriero del villaggio/
Landowner), Hugh Hurd
(il soldato afroamericano/
Black Soldier) Akiko Koyama
(Hiroko Ishii)
produttore/producer
Saburo Tajima
produzione/production
Palace Films