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IMDbPro

Nagisa Ôshima(1932-2013)

  • Director
  • Writer
  • Editor
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Nagisa Ôshima
Trailer for Level Five
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Level Five (1997)
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Nagisa Oshima's career extends from the initiation of the "Nuberu bagu" (New Wave) movement in Japanese cinema in the late 1950s and early 1960s, to the contemporary use of cinema and television to express paradoxes in modern society. After an early involvement with the student protest movement in Kyoto, Oshima rose rapidly in the Shochiku company from the status of apprentice, in 1954, to that of director. By 1960, he had grown disillusioned with the traditional studio production policies and broke away from Shochiku to form his own independent production company, Sozosha, in 1965. With other Japanese New Wave filmmakers, like Masahiro Shinoda, Shôhei Imamura and Yoshishige Yoshida, Oshima reacted against the humanistic style and subject matter of directors like Yasujirô Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi and Akira Kurosawa, as well as against established left-wing political movements. Oshima has been primarily concerned with depicting the contradictions and tensions of postwar Japanese society. His films tend to expose contemporary Japanese materialism, while also examining what it means to be Japanese in the face of rapid industrialization and Westernization. Many of Oshima's earlier films, such as Ai to kibô no machi (1959) and The Sun's Burial (1960), feature rebellious, underprivileged youths in anti-heroic roles. The film for which he is probably best-known in the West, In the Realm of the Senses (1976), centers on an obsessive sexual relationship. Like several other Oshima works, it gains additional power by being based on an actual incident. Other important Oshima films include Kôshikei (1968), an examination of the prejudicial treatment of Koreans in Japan; Boy (1969), which deals with the cruel use of a child for extortion purposes, and with the child's subsequent escapist fantasies; The Man Who Put His Will on Film (1970), about another ongoing concern of Oshima's, the art of filmmaking itself; and The Ceremony (1971), which presents a microcosmic view of Japanese postwar history through the lives of one wealthy family. In recent years, Oshima has repeatedly turned to sources outside Japan for the production of his films. This was the case with In the Realm of the Senses (1976) and Max My Love (1986). It is less well-known in the West that Oshima has also been a prolific documentarist, film theorist and television personality. He is the host of a long-running television talk show, "The School for Wives", in which female participants (kept anonymous by a distorting glass) present their personal problems, to which he responds from offscreen.
BornMarch 31, 1932
DiedJanuary 15, 2013(80)
BornMarch 31, 1932
DiedJanuary 15, 2013(80)
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  • Awards

Photos

Nagisa Ôshima in Kyoto, My Mother's Place (1991)
Nagisa Ôshima in Taboo (1999)

Known for

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
7.2
  • Director
  • 1983
Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda in In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
In the Realm of the Senses
6.6
  • Director
  • 1976
Taboo (1999)
Taboo
6.8
  • Director
  • 1999
The Ceremony (1971)
The Ceremony
7.3
  • Director
  • 1971

Credits

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IMDbPro

Director

  • Taboo (1999)
    Taboo
  • Nihon eiga no hyaku nen (1995)
    Century of Cinema
  • Kyoto, My Mother's Place (1991)
    Kyoto, My Mother's Place
  • Max My Love (1986)
    Max My Love
    • (as Nagisa Oshima)
  • Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
    Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
  • Empire of Passion (1978)
    Empire of Passion
  • Dokyumento: Jinsei no gekijô
  • Shirarezaru sekai
  • The Life of Mao
  • Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda in In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
    In the Realm of the Senses
  • Ikite iru ningen ryokô
  • Natsu no imôto (1972)
    Natsu no imôto
  • Subarashii sekai ryokô
  • The Giants
  • The Ceremony (1971)
    The Ceremony

Writer

  • Taboo (1999)
    Taboo
  • Nihon eiga no hyaku nen (1995)
    Century of Cinema
  • Kyoto, My Mother's Place (1991)
    Kyoto, My Mother's Place
  • Max My Love (1986)
    Max My Love
    • (as Nagisa Oshima)
  • Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
    Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
  • Empire of Passion (1978)
    Empire of Passion
  • Dokyumento: Jinsei no gekijô
  • Shirarezaru sekai
  • The Life of Mao
  • Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda in In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
    In the Realm of the Senses
  • Ikite iru ningen ryokô
  • Natsu no imôto (1972)
    Natsu no imôto
  • Subarashii sekai ryokô
  • The Giants
  • The Ceremony (1971)
    The Ceremony

Editor

  • Shinjuku dorobô nikki (1969)
    Shinjuku dorobô nikki
  • Terebi geijutsuza
  • Non-fikushon gekijô

Videos1

Level Five
Trailer 1:40
Level Five

Personal details

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    • March 31, 1932
    • Tamano, Japan
    • January 15, 2013
    • Fujisawa, Japan(pneumonia)
    • Akiko Koyama1960 - January 15, 2013 (his death, 2 children)
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Print Biographies
    • 1 Interview
    • 4 Articles

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, stage director & author.
  • Quotes
    My hatred for Japanese cinema includes absolutely all of it.

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