Koshikei

Absolutely insane that Oshima can move between the quietly powerful Ozu-esque stillness of In the Realm of the Senses and the fiery madcap satire on display here. The antics of R & friends are simultaneously accessible in exposing the absurdity of a blatantly obvious issue being politically contentious, and incredibly layered as it digs deeper into the social forces that made the issue contentious in the first place.

Comes close to being one of the most seething indictments of capital punishment (or just authority, in general) known to film. It generally fits well within the material, but at times the broad characterizations and occasional hysterics did irk me.

A Korean prisoner in Japan is sentenced to death, and somehow survives the noose but is left with total amnesia. The prison staff reason that in order to legally attempt another execution, the prisoner has to remember his crimes, forcing them to re-enact his past to jog his memory. A weird black comedy that starts out very funny with everyone panicking over what to do, but the second hour devolves into a fantastical political allegory that mostly sailed over my head.

It started off really brilliantly and managed to maintain that for a fairly sizable chunk of its runtime. Watching Watanabe as the education officer, in particular, was an absolute treat. He sold the absurdity well. It was funny and smart with a cool premise. However, the final bit lost me some, even as it touched on some important issues. Just kind of lost its momentum, became maybe a little too out there for what had been set up. It didn't tank it by any means, but I enjoyed it less.

Huh?

As a comedy, it's kinda funny. Considering the plot revolves around the death penalty, that would make it a 'black comedy'? Wish I was more educated on the intricacies of Japanese/Korean historical relations. More of the satire would have hit home, a lot of it was lost on me. This film starts off traditional enough but gets pretty surreal towards the end. I enjoyed the directing. Some cool shots. Felt longer than its 2 hour runtime, but it would be worth a rewatch, maybe.

A vicious skinning of all pretense used to justify state-wielded murder, even more reprehensible in this case because it highlights Japan's record of legitimized discrimination toward ethnic Koreans. It's an uncomfortable joke, an absurd if perhaps too-didactic farce, which eventually takes a dive, and loses a bit of focus, into rather abstract territory.

So Avant-garde and Very Symbolic!!! even for now adays!!!

A pretty great premise, and a lot of smart ideas, crippled by hokey dialogue and hammy delivery... which I guess is meant to be funny, but isn't. Gets increasingly carried away as it goes.

Opening sets up the film as a polemic against capital punishment, but actually this satire is not so single-minded, touching on a range of related themes. Committing to its absurdity makes it more enjoyable than the majority of Japanese New Wave for me.