Nagisa ÅŒshima (大島 渚, ÅŒshima Nagisa, March 31, 1932 â€" January
15, 2013) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His films
include In the Realm of the Senses (1976), a sexually explicit film
set in 1930s Japan, and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), about
World War II prisoners of war held by the Japanese.After graduating
from Kyoto University in 1954, where he studied political history,
ÅŒshima was hired by film production company Shochiku Ltd. and quickly
progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature A
Town of Love and Hope in 1959.ÅŒshima's cinematic career and influence
developed very swiftly, and such films as Cruel Story of Youth and
Night and Fog in Japan followed in 1960. The last of these 1960 films
explored ÅŒshima's disillusionment with the traditional political
left, and his frustrations with the right, and Shochiku withdrew the
film from circulation after less than a week, claiming that, following
the recent assassination of the Socialist Party leader Inejiro Asanuma
by the ultranationalist Otoya Yamaguchi, there was a risk of "unrest".
ÅŒshima left the studio in response, and launched his own independent
production company. Despite the controversy, Night and Fog in Japan
placed tenth in that year's Kinema Jumpo's best-films poll of Japanese
critics, and it has subsequently amassed considerable acclaim abroad.
15, 2013) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His films
include In the Realm of the Senses (1976), a sexually explicit film
set in 1930s Japan, and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), about
World War II prisoners of war held by the Japanese.After graduating
from Kyoto University in 1954, where he studied political history,
ÅŒshima was hired by film production company Shochiku Ltd. and quickly
progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature A
Town of Love and Hope in 1959.ÅŒshima's cinematic career and influence
developed very swiftly, and such films as Cruel Story of Youth and
Night and Fog in Japan followed in 1960. The last of these 1960 films
explored ÅŒshima's disillusionment with the traditional political
left, and his frustrations with the right, and Shochiku withdrew the
film from circulation after less than a week, claiming that, following
the recent assassination of the Socialist Party leader Inejiro Asanuma
by the ultranationalist Otoya Yamaguchi, there was a risk of "unrest".
ÅŒshima left the studio in response, and launched his own independent
production company. Despite the controversy, Night and Fog in Japan
placed tenth in that year's Kinema Jumpo's best-films poll of Japanese
critics, and it has subsequently amassed considerable acclaim abroad.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.