620:
without guilt. If the state has internalized in its formation communal norms of "guilt" and "justice", thereby wielding violence legitimately (even if – in this case – wrapped in a context of ethnic bigotry), it must still prove guilt to transgressors, in this case, the character R. Guilt is culturally learned, but R presents the difficulty of not being aware of guilt or acknowledgement of violating social boundaries in his crimes; he likewise remains unaware of his own ethnicity and cannot comprehend the link (as it is presented to him) between his ethnicity and his alleged criminality. Both the assorted officials (legal, scientific, and metaphysic representatives) and his "sister" (representative of nationalism) attempt, but fail to recreate R's consciousness. In fact, their own violent actions (simulated rape, murder, recollection of war crimes) and ignorance accentuate the contradiction of violence and guilt – the state that has been sanctioned to kill is constituted by people just as guilty and worthy of punishment as R, the criminal. The implications extend far beyond a mere commentary on the
526:
crime at an abandoned high school, but in an overzealous moment of reenactment, an official murders a girl. Back in the death chamber, a woman claiming to be R's "sister" appears one by one to the officials. She tries to convince R that his crimes are justified by Korean nationalism against a
Japanese enemy, but after failing to win him over, is herself hanged. At a drinking party to celebrate her hanging, the officials reveal their guilt-ridden, violent pasts, oblivious to R and his "sister" lying on the floor amongst them, themselves exploring R's psyche. The prosecutor invites R to leave a free man, but when he opens the door, he is driven back by an intense burst of light from outside, symbolizing the fact that as a Korean he will never be accepted by Japanese society. Finally, R admits to the crimes, but proclaims himself innocent – stating that if the officers execute him, then they are murderers as well. In his second hanging, R's body disappears, leaving an empty noose hanging beneath the gallows.
624:, but pose an open-ended series of questions about the relationship between the individual and the state, between violence and guilt (or an understood concept of guilt), and between ethnic discrimination and the various products of discrimination: as Koreans were discriminated against and denied legitimacy by Japan, so R denies Japanese state authority. His body's refusal to die becomes an act of resistance against the state and its delineation of justified and unjustified violence. This interpretation resonates with Ōshima's long-standing concern with the plight of the Korean minority, and with the painful history of the Japanese occupation of Korea and war-time atrocities.
602:
Claiming him to be "the most intelligent and sensitive youth produced by postwar Japan", Ōshima thought his prose "ought to be included in high school textbooks". Ōshima first wrote a script about him in 1963, but this was not the version that eventually was filmed. Prior to 1968, the idea was conceptually reworked, with Ri Chin'u negated as the hero and replaced by R, a Korean subject more open to experimental treatment and analysis. The resulting film is just as much concerned with the domestic repression of
Koreans in Japan as with the death penalty, but remains cinematically important because of its theoretical and conceptual innovations.
1244:
148:
1256:
86:
45:
1232:
525:
In scenes of absurd and perverse humor, the officials recreate R's first crime, the rape of a young woman. This failing, they attempt to recreate his childhood by way of performing crude racist stereotypes of
Koreans held by some Japanese. Exasperated, they resort to visiting the scene of R's other
521:
A documentary-like opening introduces a death chamber where an execution is about to take place. Inexplicably, the man to be executed, an ethnic Korean known only as R, survives hanging but loses his memory. The officials who witness the hanging debate how to proceed, as the law could be interpreted
716:
felt that halfway through the film, when R's sister appears, the film's statement is "clear, direct, double-edged, and brilliantly delivered", but afterward it "unravels, getting more and more woolly-headed while the words come thicker and longer and faster". However, he still felt that at the end,
652:
contains a number of subtle, masterful touches, such as the newspapered walls in the reconstruction of R's youth referencing the intense media scrutiny of Ri Chin'u. Another theatrical element observed by
Maureen Turim is the important role of dialogue: "much of the humor and irony is a matter of
619:
addresses a number of themes – guilt and consciousness, and also race and discrimination (all within a greater context of state violence) – with great gravity. The guiding juxtaposition is of the criminal consciousness with the state's license to commit violence
601:
North. The "sister" character was developed from this relationship, indicating the journalist's Korean nationalist interpretation of Ri's life and experiences. Much of R and the "sister's" dialogue is taken from this correspondence. Ōshima held Ri Chin'u in high regard, despite his crimes.
522:
as forbidding execution of an individual who does not recognize their crime and its punishment. They decide that they must persuade R to accept guilt by reminding him of his crimes – at this point the film moves into a highly theatricalized film-within-a-film structure.
636:
is not a presentation of "reality". This distancing is compounded by the seven intertitles that give an indication of the action about to occur (or in a psychoanalytic interpretation, displacing R as a defined subject). These techniques have established the film as Ōshima's most
645:
include dark humor, the theme of justice, and an exploration of open-ended, unresolved contradictions. That a death chamber serves as this unlikely theater of the absurd underscores the film's dominant ironic tone. Rich in symbolism and visual allusions, Ōshima's
589:, an ethnic Korean who in 1958 murdered two Japanese school girls. A precocious, talented young man, he not only confessed to his crimes, but wrote about them in great detail; his writings, collected as
803:
Oshima, Nagisa. "About Death By
Hanging". pp. 166–169 in Cinema, Censorship, and the State: The Writings of Nagisa Ōshima, 1956-1978, ed. Annette Michelson. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1992.
272:
702:
found the film provocative and entertaining while it focused on capital punishment, but felt it reached a point of total confusion as it became more
706:
or
Brechtian. He also called Ōshima's directing "hugely concerned and committed to the sort of cinema that plays an active role in its society".
864:
586:
1311:
594:
1296:
1281:
1030:
1291:
1286:
1301:
212:
184:
191:
927:
902:
632:
Despite its documentary style, from the start, as voiceover and image give contradictory information, it is clear that
1156:
249:
231:
165:
129:
72:
58:
986:
111:
17:
838:
198:
1108:
169:
96:
1023:
1306:
1188:
180:
1140:
726:
498:
1222:
1172:
593:
became nearly as famous as his crimes and persona. Much of his book consisted of correspondence with
1132:
509:
techniques and complex treatments of guilt and consciousness, justice, and the persecution of ethnic
1016:
1164:
1052:
967:
158:
107:
1076:
205:
1084:
64:
1060:
992:
827:
Standish, Isolde. A New
History of Japanese Cinema New York: Continuum, 2005. pp. 244–250.
103:
8:
1276:
1068:
1116:
1100:
783:
Cameron, Ian. "Nagisa Oshima." In Second Wave
England: November Books, 1970. pp. 70–80.
698:
1180:
956:
923:
898:
403:
1092:
673:
510:
1040:
1008:
648:
569:
502:
282:
1148:
1003:
919:
913:
664:
was released theatrically in Japan on March 9, 1968, where it was distributed by
1196:
731:
543:
382:
345:
1270:
707:
693:
621:
298:
997:
1248:
1236:
686:
564:
553:
353:
961:
271:
1260:
975:
712:
669:
548:
950:
672:
size format. The film was released in the United States theatrically by
538:
340:
703:
638:
598:
506:
653:
verbal repartee, presented in exquisite timing and visual framing."
147:
114:. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.
981:
1204:
33:
32:
This article is about the film. For the method of execution, see
642:
767:
765:
763:
761:
759:
757:
755:
753:
751:
749:
747:
895:
The Films of Oshima Nagisa: Images of a
Japanese Iconoclast
665:
417:
915:
The Toho
Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography
744:
1220:
627:
1038:
172:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
1268:
865:"Donald Richie on 'Koshikei (Death by Hanging)'"
488:
482:
1024:
911:
771:
676:with English subtitles on December 8, 1971.
811:
809:
73:Learn how and when to remove these messages
1031:
1017:
610:
270:
597:, a Korean journalist sympathetic to the
250:Learn how and when to remove this message
232:Learn how and when to remove this message
130:Learn how and when to remove this message
806:
14:
1269:
897:. Berkeley: University of California.
862:
1012:
988:Death by Hanging: Hanging by a Thread
892:
836:
815:
792:
717:the film raised important questions.
668:. This was the first Toho release in
170:adding citations to reliable sources
141:
79:
38:
837:Canby, Vincent (15 February 1974).
27:1968 Japanese film by Nagisa Ōshima
24:
1312:Films about Zainichi Korean people
991:an essay by Howard Hampton at the
863:Richie, Donald (28 January 1968).
25:
1323:
1282:Japanese crime comedy-drama films
1157:The Man Who Left His Will on Film
944:
628:A Brechtian theater of the absurd
54:This article has multiple issues.
1254:
1242:
1230:
146:
84:
43:
1297:Films directed by Nagisa Ōshima
1109:Double Suicide: Japanese Summer
886:
157:needs additional citations for
62:or discuss these issues on the
1292:Films about race and ethnicity
1287:Films about capital punishment
893:Turim, Maureen Cheryn (1998).
856:
830:
821:
797:
786:
777:
13:
1:
1302:1960s Japanese-language films
1189:Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
912:Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008).
737:
576:
679:
641:. Other ideas borrowed from
615:For all its dark absurdity,
7:
1141:Three Resurrected Drunkards
727:Capital punishment in Japan
720:
690:Award for Best Screenplay.
684:In Japan, the film won the
489:
110:the claims made and adding
10:
1328:
1173:In the Realm of the Senses
656:
31:
1133:Diary of a Shinjuku Thief
1047:
839:"Death By Hanging (1968)"
605:
483:
465:
457:
447:
423:
413:
388:
378:
370:
362:
333:
313:
288:
278:
269:
264:
1053:A Town of Love and Hope
968:Japanese Movie Database
611:Guilt and consciousness
529:
516:
1077:Night and Fog in Japan
591:Crime, Death, and Love
432:9 March 1968
1307:1960s Japanese films
1061:Cruel Story of Youth
993:Criterion Collection
166:improve this article
93:This Themes section
581:The character R in
505:. The film employs
497:is a 1968 Japanese
1117:Sing a Song of Sex
1101:Tales of the Ninja
1039:Films directed by
843:The New York Times
699:The New York Times
181:"Death by Hanging"
95:possibly contains
1215:
1214:
1181:Empire of Passion
772:Galbraith IV 2008
535:Yung-Do Yoon as R
473:
472:
404:Art Theatre Guild
366:Yasuhiro Yoskioka
323:Tatsuji Yamaguchi
320:Masayuki Nakajima
260:
259:
252:
242:
241:
234:
216:
140:
139:
132:
97:original research
77:
16:(Redirected from
1319:
1259:
1258:
1257:
1247:
1246:
1245:
1235:
1234:
1233:
1226:
1125:Death by Hanging
1093:Violence at Noon
1069:The Sun's Burial
1033:
1026:
1019:
1010:
1009:
999:Death by Hanging
977:Death by Hanging
972:
963:Death by Hanging
952:Death by Hanging
940:
938:
936:
908:
880:
879:
877:
875:
860:
854:
853:
851:
849:
834:
828:
825:
819:
818:, pp. 61–81
813:
804:
801:
795:
790:
784:
781:
775:
769:
674:New Yorker Films
662:Death by Hanging
634:Death by Hanging
617:Death by Hanging
583:Death by Hanging
511:Koreans in Japan
496:
495:
492:
486:
485:
477:Death by Hanging
439:
437:
274:
265:Death by Hanging
262:
261:
255:
248:
237:
230:
226:
223:
217:
215:
174:
150:
142:
135:
128:
124:
121:
115:
112:inline citations
88:
87:
80:
69:
47:
46:
39:
21:
18:Death By Hanging
1327:
1326:
1322:
1321:
1320:
1318:
1317:
1316:
1267:
1266:
1265:
1255:
1253:
1243:
1241:
1231:
1229:
1221:
1218:
1216:
1211:
1043:
1037:
1004:Rotten Tomatoes
970:
947:
934:
932:
930:
920:Scarecrow Press
905:
889:
884:
883:
873:
871:
869:The Japan Times
861:
857:
847:
845:
835:
831:
826:
822:
814:
807:
802:
798:
791:
787:
782:
778:
770:
745:
740:
723:
682:
659:
630:
613:
608:
579:
532:
519:
493:
480:
450:
443:
435:
433:
426:
409:
408:
393:
391:
374:Sueko Shiraishi
358:
329:
309:
303:Michinori Fukao
256:
245:
244:
243:
238:
227:
221:
218:
175:
173:
163:
151:
136:
125:
119:
116:
101:
89:
85:
48:
44:
37:
28:
23:
22:
15:
12:
11:
5:
1325:
1315:
1314:
1309:
1304:
1299:
1294:
1289:
1284:
1279:
1264:
1263:
1251:
1239:
1213:
1212:
1210:
1209:
1201:
1197:Max, Mon Amour
1193:
1185:
1177:
1169:
1161:
1153:
1145:
1137:
1129:
1121:
1113:
1105:
1097:
1089:
1081:
1073:
1065:
1057:
1048:
1045:
1044:
1036:
1035:
1028:
1021:
1013:
1007:
1006:
995:
984:
973:
959:
946:
945:External links
943:
942:
941:
929:978-1461673743
928:
909:
904:978-0520206663
903:
888:
885:
882:
881:
855:
829:
820:
805:
796:
785:
776:
774:, p. 247.
742:
741:
739:
736:
735:
734:
732:Kunio Nakagaki
729:
722:
719:
681:
678:
658:
655:
629:
626:
612:
609:
607:
604:
578:
575:
574:
573:
567:
562:
559:
556:
551:
546:
544:Fumio Watanabe
541:
536:
531:
528:
518:
515:
471:
470:
467:
463:
462:
459:
455:
454:
451:
448:
445:
444:
442:
441:
429:
427:
424:
421:
420:
415:
414:Distributed by
411:
410:
407:
406:
401:
397:
396:
394:
389:
386:
385:
383:Hikaru Hayashi
380:
376:
375:
372:
368:
367:
364:
363:Cinematography
360:
359:
357:
356:
351:
348:
346:Fumio Watanabe
343:
337:
335:
331:
330:
328:
327:
324:
321:
317:
315:
311:
310:
308:
307:
304:
301:
296:
295:Tsutomu Tamura
292:
290:
286:
285:
280:
276:
275:
267:
266:
258:
257:
240:
239:
154:
152:
145:
138:
137:
92:
90:
83:
78:
52:
51:
49:
42:
26:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1324:
1313:
1310:
1308:
1305:
1303:
1300:
1298:
1295:
1293:
1290:
1288:
1285:
1283:
1280:
1278:
1275:
1274:
1272:
1262:
1252:
1250:
1240:
1238:
1228:
1227:
1224:
1219:
1207:
1206:
1202:
1199:
1198:
1194:
1191:
1190:
1186:
1183:
1182:
1178:
1175:
1174:
1170:
1167:
1166:
1162:
1159:
1158:
1154:
1151:
1150:
1146:
1143:
1142:
1138:
1135:
1134:
1130:
1127:
1126:
1122:
1119:
1118:
1114:
1111:
1110:
1106:
1103:
1102:
1098:
1095:
1094:
1090:
1087:
1086:
1082:
1079:
1078:
1074:
1071:
1070:
1066:
1063:
1062:
1058:
1055:
1054:
1050:
1049:
1046:
1042:
1041:Nagisa Ōshima
1034:
1029:
1027:
1022:
1020:
1015:
1014:
1011:
1005:
1001:
1000:
996:
994:
990:
989:
985:
983:
979:
978:
974:
971:(in Japanese)
969:
965:
964:
960:
958:
954:
953:
949:
948:
931:
925:
921:
917:
916:
910:
906:
900:
896:
891:
890:
870:
866:
859:
844:
840:
833:
824:
817:
812:
810:
800:
794:
789:
780:
773:
768:
766:
764:
762:
760:
758:
756:
754:
752:
750:
748:
743:
733:
730:
728:
725:
724:
718:
715:
714:
709:
708:Donald Richie
705:
701:
700:
695:
694:Vincent Canby
691:
689:
688:
677:
675:
671:
667:
663:
654:
651:
650:
649:mise en scène
644:
640:
635:
625:
623:
622:death penalty
618:
603:
600:
596:
592:
588:
585:was based on
584:
571:
570:Nagisa Ōshima
568:
566:
563:
561:Masao Matsuda
560:
558:Komatsu Hōsei
557:
555:
552:
550:
547:
545:
542:
540:
537:
534:
533:
527:
523:
514:
512:
508:
504:
503:Nagisa Ōshima
500:
491:
479:
478:
468:
464:
460:
456:
452:
446:
431:
430:
428:
422:
419:
416:
412:
405:
402:
399:
398:
395:
387:
384:
381:
377:
373:
369:
365:
361:
355:
352:
350:Toshio Ishido
349:
347:
344:
342:
339:
338:
336:
332:
326:Nagisa Ōshima
325:
322:
319:
318:
316:
312:
306:Nagisa Ōshima
305:
302:
300:
299:Mamoru Sasaki
297:
294:
293:
291:
289:Screenplay by
287:
284:
283:Nagisa Ōshima
281:
277:
273:
268:
263:
254:
251:
236:
233:
225:
214:
211:
207:
204:
200:
197:
193:
190:
186:
183: –
182:
178:
177:Find sources:
171:
167:
161:
160:
155:This article
153:
149:
144:
143:
134:
131:
123:
113:
109:
105:
99:
98:
91:
82:
81:
76:
74:
67:
66:
61:
60:
55:
50:
41:
40:
35:
30:
19:
1217:
1203:
1195:
1187:
1179:
1171:
1165:The Ceremony
1163:
1155:
1147:
1139:
1131:
1124:
1123:
1115:
1107:
1099:
1091:
1083:
1075:
1067:
1059:
1051:
998:
987:
976:
962:
951:
933:. Retrieved
914:
894:
887:Bibliography
874:29 September
872:. Retrieved
868:
858:
848:29 September
846:. Retrieved
842:
832:
823:
799:
788:
779:
711:
697:
692:
687:Kinema Junpo
685:
683:
661:
660:
647:
633:
631:
616:
614:
590:
582:
580:
565:Akiko Koyama
554:Masao Adachi
524:
520:
501:directed by
476:
475:
474:
449:Running time
440: (Japan)
425:Release date
354:Masao Adachi
246:
228:
219:
209:
202:
195:
188:
176:
164:Please help
159:verification
156:
126:
117:
94:
70:
63:
57:
56:Please help
53:
29:
713:Japan Times
670:VistaVision
572:as narrator
549:Rokko Toura
453:118 minutes
314:Produced by
279:Directed by
222:August 2023
120:August 2023
1277:1968 films
1271:Categories
935:29 October
816:Turim 1998
793:Turim 1998
738:References
577:Production
499:drama film
436:1968-03-09
390:Production
192:newspapers
104:improve it
59:improve it
1085:The Catch
704:Godardian
680:Reception
639:Brechtian
599:communist
595:Bok Junan
587:Ri Chin'u
507:Brechtian
392:companies
371:Edited by
108:verifying
65:talk page
982:AllMovie
721:See also
539:Kei Satō
490:Kōshikei
469:Japanese
466:Language
379:Music by
341:Kei Satō
334:Starring
1223:Portals
966:at the
710:of the
657:Release
458:Country
434: (
400:Sozosha
206:scholar
102:Please
34:hanging
1208:(1999)
1200:(1986)
1192:(1983)
1184:(1978)
1176:(1976)
1168:(1971)
1160:(1970)
1152:(1969)
1144:(1968)
1136:(1968)
1128:(1968)
1120:(1967)
1112:(1967)
1104:(1967)
1096:(1966)
1088:(1961)
1080:(1960)
1072:(1960)
1064:(1960)
1056:(1959)
926:
901:
643:Brecht
606:Themes
208:
201:
194:
187:
179:
1249:1960s
1237:Japan
1205:Taboo
461:Japan
213:JSTOR
199:books
1261:Film
957:IMDb
937:2013
924:ISBN
899:ISBN
876:2015
850:2015
666:Toho
530:Cast
517:Plot
418:Toho
185:news
1149:Boy
1002:at
980:at
955:at
696:of
484:絞死刑
168:by
106:by
1273::
922:.
918:.
867:.
841:.
808:^
746:^
513:.
487:,
68:.
1225::
1032:e
1025:t
1018:v
939:.
907:.
878:.
852:.
494:)
481:(
438:)
253:)
247:(
235:)
229:(
224:)
220:(
210:·
203:·
196:·
189:·
162:.
133:)
127:(
122:)
118:(
100:.
75:)
71:(
36:.
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.