Film School: 5 films by Nagisa Oshima you should check out

“Death by Hanging” (1968)

Oshima borrows liberally from Luis Bunuel and Bertolt Brecht for this absurdist flick with a very serious political point about the Japanese institutional prejudice against Koreans. True to its title, the movie opens with a clinical depiction of an execution by hanging. Yet the noose fails to kill the prisoner, giving him a bad case of amnesia instead. Hoping to jog his memory and his guilt, the executioners helpfully ... more 

“Death by Hanging” (1968)

Oshima borrows liberally from Luis Bunuel and Bertolt Brecht for this absurdist flick with a very serious political point about the Japanese institutional prejudice against Koreans. True to its title, the movie opens with a clinical depiction of an execution by hanging. Yet the noose fails to kill the prisoner, giving him a bad case of amnesia instead. Hoping to jog his memory and his guilt, the executioners helpfully reenact the crime. Soon everyone gets confused about who is the criminal and who are the authorities. It might be one of the most subversive and wryly funny movies you'll ever see about the death penalty. less