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Just finished Shinjuku Thief -- my introduction to Oshima, and it's going to take at least another two viewings before I think I'll even be able to begin to wrap my head around what I just saw. Like absolutely nothing I have seen before, which I consider tremendous praise. The late night bookstore overlapping voice over quotation aural overload was divine.

I do feel that I was missing out on a lot during the theatrical last third due to major culture barriers (yeah, I'm an ignorant white boy...). Does anyone have/know of any readily available resources that might be able to help me out?

-Toilet Dcuk

toiletduck! wrote:Just finished Shinjuku Thief -- my introduction to Oshima, and it's going to take at least another two viewings before I think I'll even be able to begin to wrap my head around what I just saw. Like absolutely nothing I have seen before, which I consider tremendous praise. The late night bookstore overlapping voice over quotation aural overload was divine.

The poison's in your bloodstream now - it's too late to suck it out!

I do feel that I was missing out on a lot during the theatrical last third due to major culture barriers (yeah, I'm an ignorant white boy...). Does anyone have/know of any readily available resources that might be able to help me out?

Desser's Eros Plus Massacre, if not quite a Japanese New Wave one-stop shop, is surely the next best thing. He's very good on the historical and cultural context of all of these films, and much else besides. It's probably my most-read film book. Every time I go to it for a reference I seem to end up reading the damn thing from cover to cover.

toiletduck! wrote:I do feel that I was missing out on a lot during the theatrical last third due to major culture barriers (yeah, I'm an ignorant white boy...). Does anyone have/know of any readily available resources that might be able to help me out?

There's quite a good summary/breakdown of the film in the Oshima chapter from Second Wave, an anthology book about filmmakers from the 60s that's OOP but is still available second hand for fairly cheap prices. Same goes for Raymond Durgnat's Sexual Alienation in the Cinema, which has a brief and characteristically interesting review - though even Durgnat admits he dosn't fully understand the theatrical scenes, so you're in good company!

zedz wrote:Desser's Eros Plus Massacre, if not quite a Japanese New Wave one-stop shop, is surely the next best thing. He's very good on the historical and cultural context of all of these films, and much else besides. It's probably my most-read film book. Every time I go to it for a reference I seem to end up reading the damn thing from cover to cover.

I'm going to second this recommendation (as I've done elsewhere on this forum for this book, non-stop, it seems.) The ATG business model, the time and place it was created in, and Oshima's film and political interests make for a truly exciting series of films, I think, and they're definitely rooted in their time and place (though certainly still relevant.) Desser does a great job of putting this work in context.

Maureen Turim donates a few pages in her The Films of Oshima Nagisa to it, but I think Desser has more interesting things to say. According to Isolde Standish in her A New History of Japanese Cinema, a good point of departure is Jean Genet's A Thief's Diary, which she says Oshima knowingly alluded to in his title.

Oshima not only alludes to it but his anti-hero is caught stealing a copy of Genet's book from a Shinjuku bookstore by his anti-heroine. This event instigates a discussion of whether said youth is gay or not -- a question the film declines to resolve. His relationship with the girl in its erotic tentativeness is comparable to that of the films Skolimowski was making at the same time in Belgium and Great Britain.

David Ehrenstein wrote:His relationship with the girl in its erotic tentativeness is comparable to that of the films Skolimowski was making at the same time in Belgium and Great Britain.

Interesting connection, I'd not thought of that before. Maybe there should be a separate thread on Skolimowski - he's probably one of the most neglected of all the great '60s auteurs, and he made at least two masterpieces (Barrier and Deep End for my money - as a Brit, I consider Deep End the Greatest British Movie Never Made).

Formally as well as thematically I'd compare Shinjuku Thief with Makavejev and Sjoman's films from the same time. Yet if anything, it makes their work seem quite accessible and straightforward. I had a similar reaction to the one above - I was bowled over even while acknowledging it's a difficult work that would require multiple viewings and some background reading for it to be fully understood. It's worth pointing out though that it's formally very beautiful. And who'd ever imagine you'd hear Stalin and Henry Miller quoted in the same scene.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Looks like I've got some reading to do.

-Toilet Dcuk

I have Eros plus Massacre, but I was wondering who the author is of "Second Wave" which is mentioned above? Does anyone as it sounds interesting and I am rather a hoarder of old books.

Thanks

Second Wave?

This one

Thanks! No I will have to work my through these Oshima DVD's... I'm guessing the RARO ones are the best we have at the moment?

filmyfan wrote:I'm guessing the RARO ones are the best we have at the moment?

I guess so. OK transfers and good subtitles (haven't got Violence at Noon so can't confirm subs on that one). These are earlier works, however, and the real action was in the late sixties (Night and Fog in Japan is major Oshima, nevertheless). If you can get hold of the Japanese New Wave Classics releases, they're all essential, and all decent presentations (about on the level of the Raros).

Cruel Story of Youth and The Sun's Burial (available together from Raro) are great films, and seen alongside contemporary films in the same vein (e.g. Crazed Fruit) they can appear revelatory, but they're only the on-ramp to the radical expressway Oshima was going to cruise.

That said, several of the late sixties films are also triumphs of classical filmmaking virtues (e.g. Boy), and The Ceremony is a near-perfect amalgam of classicism and radicalism.

Thanks Zedz...thats a great help... looks like I've got some hunting about to do. Anyone know if you can still get JNWC dvd's from anywhere else?

Just my luck when I decide to get interested in a set of films ..the one place to get them shuts down. A Cruel twist of Fate !

The Sun's Burial is out next week as an R2 DVD.

I'm really excited about this but a bit surprised that this doesn't even seem to feature on DVD Beaver's release schedule.

Murasaki53 wrote:The Sun's Burial is out next week as an R2 DVD.

I'm really excited about this but a bit surprised that this doesn't even seem to feature on DVD Beaver's release schedule.

Think there were screen shots on this forum for Naked Youth; recall it was non-anamorphic. Guessing this might be likewise.

The Yume Naked Youth was a port of the (very poor) Raro edition that's been out for several years. Chances are The Sun's Burial will be no better.

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:The Yume Naked Youth was a port of the (very poor) Raro edition that's been out for several years. Chances are The Sun's Burial will be no better.

It isn't - they're both non-anamorphic, smeary transfers whose only saving grace is that they're in the OAR. And I think both the Raro and Yume editions are essentially identical - the subtitles at the end of Yume's The Sun's Burial are credited to an Italian source, which is a bit of a giveaway.

That's a shame about the quality of the DVD for The Sun's Burial.

I'm particularly intrigued by this movie because I gather that it is set in the Kamagasaki district of Osaka which I have wandered around quite a bit on visits to Japan. It will be interesting to see what it was like in 1960 because it is a truly depressing place now (though the food in the Hyakuban restaurant as well as the decor - it's an ex-brothel - was impressive).

For those interested in the darker side of Japanese economic life here are some links to some fascinating sites/articles about Kamagasaki.

On June 18 Carlotta will release 5 early films of Oshima in France (French subs only) These will have new anamorphic + progressive transfers from last years Japanese HD transfers.

Street of Love and Hope (1959)
Story of Cruel Youth (1960)
Burial of the Sun (1960)

These three will be available as box set only at the time being.

Accompanied by two single releases:

Night and Fog in Japan (1960)
Pleasures of the Flesh (1965)

Carlotta has announced to add some extras (most likely historical material) as extras.

For those, who don't need English subs these will be the best editions of these films to date (besides the Japanese original releases of 2007, which have no subs at all).

The Japanese release of The Sun's Burial is totally gorgeous and certainly a worthwhile purchase, especially since no decent english-subbed editions are on the horizon. Fanmade custom subs to accompany the disc aren't hard to come by.

I should point out that Janus apparently holds the rights at least to Cruel Story of Youth so an English-friendly release probably is on the horizon, but that's no reason to wait on these if you don't need the subs, since I'm sure the transfers will be gorgeous.

The Sun's Burial is released next week from Yume Pictures R2:

I'm going to beat the first snarky reply that will inevitably come, and politely say it was mentioned on the last page, and for all accounts, it will probably be a port of the lousy Raro.

Whoops - restraint appreciated - only looked at the previous post advocating the Japanese release in the absence of any imminent English-subbed version... Yes Yume not renowned for quality product...

I posted some screens from the Japanese release of The Sun's Burial here.

Watched the R2 last night and can confirm that the picture quality is serviceable but hardly anything to write home about.

I thought the film was quite good but rather ham-fisted compared to something like, say, Humanity and Paper Balloons. But perhaps that's an unfair comparison and I have to admit that I haven't seen much Oshima, only the excellent Gohatto and the dull Ai No Corrida.

One thing I certainly didn't appreciate was the lame guitar soundtrack.

I was also left wondering whether Oshima captured the spirit of Osakans who are, apparently, quick to spot a money making opportunity but also renowned for their humour. Certainly the latter wasn't much in evidence. While there might not be much to laugh about in Kamagasaki I do recall that the local residents liked to engage in outdoor Karaoke sessions behind Tennoji Zoo and the guys I once saw doing this seemed to be making the best of things.