Radical Japan: Cinema and State - Nine Films by Nagisa Oshima (LE)

The start of an ongoing series, this first volume of Radical Japan explores the films of new wave icon Nagisa Oshima (Cruel Story of Youth, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence). One of the most vital, challenging and admired bodies of work in cinema history, this boxset presents Blu-ray premieres of Oshima’s finest features across seven discs.

In The Catch (1961), a village in World War II is shaken by the capture of a pilot; in Death by Hanging (1968), a failed execution throws the justice system into disarray; Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (1969) strikingly captures Tokyo’s 1960s counter-culture; Boy (1969) is a vivid portrait of a family surviving through scams; The Man Who Left His Will on Film (1970), Oshima’s reaction to the protest movement; The Ceremony (1971), a meditation on how traditions oppress the young; and Dear Summer Sister (1972), which questions Japan’s colonial relation to Okinawa.