27° TORINO FILM FESTIVAL

SEISHUN ZANKOKU MONOGATARI

CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH
by Nagisa Oshima
Country: Japan
Year: 1960
Duration: 96'


CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH
A pair of restless adolescents face life
with an amoral and materialistic
attitude, but they are destined to
dramatically learn that their search for
liberty is an illusion. The unconventional
themes and innovative style of the film
make it the manifesto of an aspiring
new Japanese Nouvelle Vague which
was crafted by the Shochiku production
company for commercial reasons.

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,
sceneggiatura/director,
screenplay
Nagisa Oshima
fotografia/cinematography
Takashi Kawamata
montaggio/film editing
Keiichi Uraoka
scenografia/production
design
Kintaro Yamamoto
costumi/costume design
Taizo Saito
musica/music
Riichiro Manabe
suono/sound
Shujuro Kurita
interpreti e personaggi/cast
and characters
Miyuki Kuwano (Makoto
Shinjo), Yusuke Kawazu
(Kiyoshi Fujii), Yoshiko Kuga
(Yuki Shinjo, la sorella di
Makoto/Makoto’s Sister),
Fumio Watanabe (il
dottore/Dr Akimoto), Shinji
Tanaka (Yoshimi Ito, l’amico
di Kiyoshi/Kiyoshi’s Friend)
produttore/producer
Tomio Ikeda
produzione/production
Shochiku Ofuna
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