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Radical Japan: Cinema and State

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.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES

• 4K restorations of Death by Hanging, Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, Boy, The Man Who Left His Will on Film and The Ceremony
• High-Definition digital transfers of The Catch and Dear Summer Sister (exclusive to this edition)
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio for each film
• Audio commentaries by Samm Deighan on Death by Hanging, Tony Rayns on Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, and select-scene commentary by Jasper Sharp on The Ceremony
• Introductions and appreciations of the films by film historians and scholars Luk Van Haute, Jennifer Coates, Rie Tsukinaga, and filmmaker Yang Yong-hi (2025, 13, 19, 23 and 21 mins)
• After the Tokyo War - a new visual essay by scholar Julian Ross on the complex network of influences on The Man Who Left His Will on Film (2025, 17 mins)
• Archival interviews with Oshima (1986 & 1995, 4 and 7 mins)
• Interviews with actors Tadanori Yokoo and Kazuo Goto (2025, 19 and 20 mins)
• Interview with critic and author Junichi Konuma on composer Toru Takemitsu (2025, 22 mins)
• Extensive interview with critic Tony Rayns on Oshima’s life and career (2025, 46 mins)
• Yunbogi’s Diary - Oshima’s short film about street children in Seoul (1965, 25 mins)
• 100 Years of Japanese Cinema - Oshima's documentary celebrating the centenary of cinema (1995, 52 mins)
• Japanese Cinema: New Territories - a documentary by Hubert Niogret on the Japanese cinema of rebellion and renewal, charting the emergence of independent filmmakers of the 1960s to the 1990s featuring interviews with Oshima, Kiju Yoshida, Shohei Imamura and others (2011, 52 mins)
• Newly improved English subtitle translation for each film
• Reversible sleeves featuring original and new artwork based on designs by distributor ATG’s magazines
• Limited edition 160-page book featuring new writing by Rea Amit, Espen Bale, archival articles by Donald Richie and Alexander Jacoby, plus writing by and interviews with Oshima
• Limited Edition of 5000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Add any three of our November releases (Radical Japan, Wicked Games, The Ogre of Athens and Night of the Juggler) to cart to receive 10% off. Discount automatically applied at cart. Ends September 3rd.

Year: 1961-1972
Country: Japan
Cert: TBC
Format: Blu-ray
Region: ABC
RAD144BDLE
EAN: 5060974682850
Release date: 17/11/25