27° TORINO FILM FESTIVAL

MURI SHINJU: NIHON NO NATSU

JAPANESE SUMMER: DOUBLE SUICIDE
by Nagisa Oshima
Country: Japan
Year: 1967
Duration: 98'


JAPANESE SUMMER:
DOUBLE SUICIDE
An extravagant re-elaboration of
the beloved theme of sex and death,
with a cryptic and anarchic style that
nods at the conventions of B films.
The nymphomaniac Nejiko meets
Otoko, a man with a death wish.
They are kidnapped by a small group
of bandits and the situation soon takes
a turn for the worst with the news that
a foreign killer has arrived in town.

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
Yasuhiro Yoshioka
montaggio/film editing
Keiichi Uraoka
musica/music
Hikaru Hayashi
suono/sound
Hideo Nishizaki
interpreti e personaggi/
cast and characters
Kei Sato (Otoko,
«uomo»/“Men”),
Keiko Sakurai (Nejiko),
Masazaku Tamura (Shonen,
«ragazzino»/“Kid”),
Rokko Toura (Terebi,
«televisore»/“TV Set”),
Taiji Tonoyama (Omocha,
«giocattolo»/“Toy”),
Hosei Komatsu
(Oni, «orco»/“Ogre”)
produttore/producer
Masayuki Nakajima
produzione/production
Sozosha
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