The Ceremony (1971)
"Gishiki" (original title)

Director:

Nagisa Ôshima

Writers:

Mamoru Sasaki, Tsutomu Tamura,

Stars:

Kenzô Kawarasaki, Atsuko Kaku, Nobuko Otowa

7 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kenzô Kawarasaki	...	Sakurada Masuo
Atsuko Kaku	...	Sakurada Ritsuko
Nobuko Otowa	...	Sakurada Shizu
Kei Satô	...	Sakurada Kazuomi, Grandfather
Maki Takayama	...	Sakurada Kiku
Shizue Kawarazaki	...	Sakurada Tomiko
Kiyoshi Tsuchiya	...	Sakurada Tadashi
Akiko Koyama	...	Sakurada Satsuko
Hôsei Komatsu	...	Sakurada Isamu
Fumio Watanabe	...	Sakurada Shun
Sue Mitobe	...	Sakurada Chiyo
Rokko Toura	...	Sakurada Mori (as Rokuhiro Tora)
Eitarô Ozawa	...	Tachibana Takeyo
Chisako Hara	...	Isamu's flower girl
Taiji Tonoyama	...	Old chief

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

1940s | death | flashback | patriarch | post war japan | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

7 February 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Ceremony

Company Credits

Production Co:

Art Theatre Guild, Daiei Studios, Sozosha

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Japanese Cinema (1995)

User Reviews

Surreal and wild satire

I hardly know where to start in describing this film. The story is told in flashback, as a conversation. From memory, there are about five flashback episodes, the longest covering the wedding of a young man, where the bride fails to show but the wedding proceeds. The young man continues the farce by attempting to have sex with a large pillow which he calls "darling".

The remainder of the film is just as weird, but I found it completely engrossing. Oshima appears to be attacking many aspects of Japanese modern culture with his scalpel-sharp satirical wit.

Not a film for everyone, but highly recommended nevertheless.