Realizing large-scale screening of “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (4K restored version) and “Corrida of Love” (restored version) Interview with director Arata Oshima of Nagisa Oshima Production [CINEMORE ACADEMY Vol.16]

There is no doubt that Nagisa Oshima's masterpieces ``Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence'' (1983) and ``Corrida of Love'' (1976) are masterpieces that stand in the history of film.

``Ai no Corrida'' is Japan's first hardcore porn film that actually filmed the actors having sex with each other. The film was shot in Japan, but in order to bypass censorship, the production methods were unusual, such as sending the film to France, developing and editing it, and then re-importing it.

``Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence'' attracted a lot of attention due to its strong cast of David Bowie , Ryuichi Sakamoto , and Beat Takeshi, and its mysterious and profound content captured the hearts of young audiences, making it Nagi Oshima's biggest hit.

Being able to watch these two films at the same time on screen in beautiful restored footage is the biggest event of the year for the Japanese film industry, which is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.

Arata Oshima was the person who brought about this revival. Arata, the second son of Nagisa Oshima and also a documentary maker, won first place in the Kinema Junpo cultural film category this year for his directorial film `` Why Can't You Become Prime Minister? '' (20). He is also one of the most noteworthy creators right now.

Mr. Arata Oshima talked about how this revival came to be, his thoughts on both works, and the unknown side of Nagisa Oshima's authorship and fatherhood.

Index

• A revival project that started by chance
• “Corrida of Love” created a dark childhood.
• Casting for “Ai no Corrida” went through difficulties.
• Friendship with Koji Wakamatsu, the master of pink cinema
• An uneven masterpiece “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence”
• A masterpiece created to follow up on poor acting.
• ambiguous relationships between men
• Artistic qualities seen in Nagisa Oshima's debut work
• Documentary nature of Nagisa Oshima's works

A revival project that started by chance

Q: I think it's really wonderful that the restored versions of ``Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence'' and ``Corrida of Love'' can be seen on theater screens at the same time. What was the process behind this revival?

Oshima: I originally worked with Mr. Kato, the president of Unplugged, who was in charge of distribution this time, on a different job. I was asked to be in charge of promoting a documentary film that I was producing called ``Mujica From the World's Poorest President to the Japanese'' (2020).

At first, Mr. Kato didn't know that I was Nagisa Oshima's son, but one day, someone from Unplugged wrote ``Oshima Nagisa Productions'' in small letters on the signboard of our (*documentary production company, Netsgen) office. Apparently, he discovered it and told Mr. Kato. After talking with Mr. Kato several times, he suggested a screening like this one.

And, this is also coincidental, but there was also a plan to have Nagisa Oshima's work stored in the National Film Archive around 2023, which would be 10 years after her death. "Then, before that, let's do one last big roadshow." So they did 4K and 2K restorations, and the result is what it looks like this time.

"Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" (4K restored version) "Corrida of Love" (restored version) poster

Q: Why did you choose these two works among Nagisa Oshima's works?

Oshima: As you can see in the copy of the flyer, Nagisa Oshima's biggest hit is definitely ``Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence,'' and her most problematic work is ``Corrida of Love.''

Oshima has historical works such as `` The Cruel Story of Youth '' (60) and `` Japan's Night and Fog '' (60) from the Shochiku era, and `` Strangulation '' (68), `` Shonen '' (69), and `` Ritual '' (71) from the ATG era. There are some masterpieces by Kotoro, but when you think about the size of the movie and how much it has spread and been recognized around the world, these two are in a class of their own.

“Corrida of Love” created a dark childhood.