Night and Fog in Japan
Encyclopedia
is a 1960
film from Japan
ese director Nagisa Oshima
. It is an intensely political film- both in subject matter (Zengakuren
opposition in 1950 and 1960 to the AMPO Treaty) and in thematic concerns such as political memory and the interpersonal dynamics of social movements.
of 1950. Nakagawa, former student leader now Communist functionary, is castigated for his role in the tragedy and his possession of Misako, a much desired female student. Other forgotten comrades from 1950 and fresh from the bloody demonstrations of 1960 are invoked as political and personal challenges. In the end, night and fog envelops the guests as they stand immobile to the stilted speech of the unchanged Nakagawa: memory has been invoked, but it is unclear whether or not anything has changed.
was formed, mobilizing Japanese students against the 1st AMPO treaty with the United States
. This is the time period detailed in flashbacks, during which Nozawa, Nakayama, Misako, Takao, and Takumi were active. At the time, the Zengakuren
was dominated by the Japanese Communist Party
, represented in the film by the dogmatic leadership of Nakayama. Although resistance to the treaty failed in 1950, a new generation of student activists in 1960 challenged its renewal with massive street demonstrations, which once again ended in failure. This is Misako's generation, and the demonstrations covered by Nozawa. The Zengakuren
of this period tried to assert its independence from the Japanese Communist Party
, and subsequently fractured into several organizations that continued to retain the name. Night and Fog in Japan, with extensive political dialogue peppered with Marxist rhetoric, tries to make sense of political defeat and the reconciliation of these two generations. Although the marriage of Nozawa and Reiko seems to suggest the possibility of reconciliation, Nakayama looms large as the imposition of forced forgetting and the denial of reflection in favor of Party orthodoxy. Director Nagisa Oshima
clearly was critical of Stalinism
and the failure of political reflection. This pessimistic assessment pervades the film (Oshima had been involved in, and sympathized with, student movements himself), especially in the portrayal of personal motivations in political movements.1
. Maureen Turim describes, in addition to innovative long take and shot sequences reminiscent of Kenji Mizoguchi
, a new filmic theatricality. Spatial restriction, lighting, color, and gesture figure in it, but most importantly it is the way spoken lines and confrontations are ordered by camera movement and shot, so that "the cinema becomes a device for redefining theatrical language."2 Dana Polan sees the film as part of a broader element of Oshima's cinema in which political meaning emerges "as process between screen and spectator." For example, in the ten minute opening shot, camera movement and the symmetry of the wedding ceremony suggests a political stability threatened by the fog outside and the tracking shot that introduces the univited guests- destabilizing both composition and ideological certainty. More than just narratively showing political process, Oshima's filmic technique demands the spectator reflect on the political and personal implications of form and character.3
's strategy of promoting films by several young directors they called the Shochiku-Ofuna New Wave. Three days after it was released, the film was abruptly pulled by the studio in the wake of Japanese Socialist Party politician Inejiro Asanuma
's shocking assassination by a far right student.4 In a blistering statement, Oshima protested what he saw as the politically motivated censorship
of his bold film. In this response, he expressed faith in the potential of the audience to receive controversial political films, taking issue with the political repression of the film industry and critics. Oshima's political commitments to the struggles depicted in the film are confirmed here, as he claimed "my film is the weapon of the people's struggle," and, of the resistance to censorship: "that is the voice of the people demanding that the future of the Japanese film be directly tied to their own future."5
2 Ibid.
3 Polan, Dana. 1983. "Politics as Process in Three Films by Nagisa Oshima." Film Criticism 8, no. 1 (Fall): 35-41.
4 Turim, 1998.
5 Oshima, Nagisa. "In Protest against the Massacre of Night and Fog in Japan." Cinema, Censorship, and the State: The Writings of Nagisa Oshima, 1956-1978. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1992. P. 54-58.
1960 in film
The year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...
film from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese director Nagisa Oshima
Nagisa Oshima
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. After graduating from Kyoto University he was hired by Shochiku Ltd. and quickly progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature A Town of Love and Hope in 1959....
. It is an intensely political film- both in subject matter (Zengakuren
Zengakuren
Founded in 1948, Zengakuren is a communist / anarchist league of students in Japan. The word is an abridgement of which literally means “All-Japan League of Student Self-Government.” Notable for organizing protests and marches, Zengakuren has been involved in Japan’s Anti-Red Purge Movement,...
opposition in 1950 and 1960 to the AMPO Treaty) and in thematic concerns such as political memory and the interpersonal dynamics of social movements.
Plot
In 1960, uninvited guests interrupt the wedding ceremony between Nozawa, a journalist and former student radical of the 1950s, and Reiko, a current activist. They accuse the couple and assembled guests of forgetting their political commitments, invoking a tortured exploration of unresolved conflicts of a decade ago, when they were swept up in the student demonstrations against the AMPO treaty. In flashbacks, personal and political wounds are reopened, focused on Nozawa's subjective experiences in both 1950 and 1960. Two characters, one dead by suicide, the other now a Stalinist politician, are the subject of greatest scrutiny. The memory of Takao, a young student who committed suicide after letting a "spy" free, is reconstructed as a criticism of the authoritarian leadership of the ZengakurenZengakuren
Founded in 1948, Zengakuren is a communist / anarchist league of students in Japan. The word is an abridgement of which literally means “All-Japan League of Student Self-Government.” Notable for organizing protests and marches, Zengakuren has been involved in Japan’s Anti-Red Purge Movement,...
of 1950. Nakagawa, former student leader now Communist functionary, is castigated for his role in the tragedy and his possession of Misako, a much desired female student. Other forgotten comrades from 1950 and fresh from the bloody demonstrations of 1960 are invoked as political and personal challenges. In the end, night and fog envelops the guests as they stand immobile to the stilted speech of the unchanged Nakagawa: memory has been invoked, but it is unclear whether or not anything has changed.
Political References
In 1948 the ZengakurenZengakuren
Founded in 1948, Zengakuren is a communist / anarchist league of students in Japan. The word is an abridgement of which literally means “All-Japan League of Student Self-Government.” Notable for organizing protests and marches, Zengakuren has been involved in Japan’s Anti-Red Purge Movement,...
was formed, mobilizing Japanese students against the 1st AMPO treaty with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. This is the time period detailed in flashbacks, during which Nozawa, Nakayama, Misako, Takao, and Takumi were active. At the time, the Zengakuren
Zengakuren
Founded in 1948, Zengakuren is a communist / anarchist league of students in Japan. The word is an abridgement of which literally means “All-Japan League of Student Self-Government.” Notable for organizing protests and marches, Zengakuren has been involved in Japan’s Anti-Red Purge Movement,...
was dominated by the Japanese Communist Party
Japanese Communist Party
The Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...
, represented in the film by the dogmatic leadership of Nakayama. Although resistance to the treaty failed in 1950, a new generation of student activists in 1960 challenged its renewal with massive street demonstrations, which once again ended in failure. This is Misako's generation, and the demonstrations covered by Nozawa. The Zengakuren
Zengakuren
Founded in 1948, Zengakuren is a communist / anarchist league of students in Japan. The word is an abridgement of which literally means “All-Japan League of Student Self-Government.” Notable for organizing protests and marches, Zengakuren has been involved in Japan’s Anti-Red Purge Movement,...
of this period tried to assert its independence from the Japanese Communist Party
Japanese Communist Party
The Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...
, and subsequently fractured into several organizations that continued to retain the name. Night and Fog in Japan, with extensive political dialogue peppered with Marxist rhetoric, tries to make sense of political defeat and the reconciliation of these two generations. Although the marriage of Nozawa and Reiko seems to suggest the possibility of reconciliation, Nakayama looms large as the imposition of forced forgetting and the denial of reflection in favor of Party orthodoxy. Director Nagisa Oshima
Nagisa Oshima
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. After graduating from Kyoto University he was hired by Shochiku Ltd. and quickly progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature A Town of Love and Hope in 1959....
clearly was critical of Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
and the failure of political reflection. This pessimistic assessment pervades the film (Oshima had been involved in, and sympathized with, student movements himself), especially in the portrayal of personal motivations in political movements.1
Theatricality and Form
Commentators on Night and Fog in Japan have noted its formal innovation, especially its theatricalityTheatricality
"Theatricality" is the 20th episode of the American television series Glee. The episode was written and directed by series creator Ryan Murphy, and premiered on the Fox network on May 25, 2010. In "Theatricality", glee club member Tina Cohen-Chang has an identity crisis...
. Maureen Turim describes, in addition to innovative long take and shot sequences reminiscent of Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His film Ugetsu won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and appeared in the Sight & Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll in 1962 and 1972. Mizoguchi is renowned for his mastery of the long take and mise-en-scène...
, a new filmic theatricality. Spatial restriction, lighting, color, and gesture figure in it, but most importantly it is the way spoken lines and confrontations are ordered by camera movement and shot, so that "the cinema becomes a device for redefining theatrical language."2 Dana Polan sees the film as part of a broader element of Oshima's cinema in which political meaning emerges "as process between screen and spectator." For example, in the ten minute opening shot, camera movement and the symmetry of the wedding ceremony suggests a political stability threatened by the fog outside and the tracking shot that introduces the univited guests- destabilizing both composition and ideological certainty. More than just narratively showing political process, Oshima's filmic technique demands the spectator reflect on the political and personal implications of form and character.3
Censorship
For its time, Night and Fog in Japan was amazingly daring, formally and politically. Oshima received the funding and creative latitude as part of ShochikuShochiku
is a Japanese movie studio and production company for kabuki. It also produces and distributes anime films. Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada...
's strategy of promoting films by several young directors they called the Shochiku-Ofuna New Wave. Three days after it was released, the film was abruptly pulled by the studio in the wake of Japanese Socialist Party politician Inejiro Asanuma
Inejiro Asanuma
Inejiro Asanuma was a Japanese politician, and head of the Japanese Socialist Party. Asanuma was noted for speaking publicly about Socialism and economic and cultural opportunities...
's shocking assassination by a far right student.4 In a blistering statement, Oshima protested what he saw as the politically motivated censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
of his bold film. In this response, he expressed faith in the potential of the audience to receive controversial political films, taking issue with the political repression of the film industry and critics. Oshima's political commitments to the struggles depicted in the film are confirmed here, as he claimed "my film is the weapon of the people's struggle," and, of the resistance to censorship: "that is the voice of the people demanding that the future of the Japanese film be directly tied to their own future."5
Sources
1 Turim, Maureen. The Films of Oshima Nagisa: Images of a Japanese Iconoclast, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. p. 51-602 Ibid.
3 Polan, Dana. 1983. "Politics as Process in Three Films by Nagisa Oshima." Film Criticism 8, no. 1 (Fall): 35-41.
4 Turim, 1998.
5 Oshima, Nagisa. "In Protest against the Massacre of Night and Fog in Japan." Cinema, Censorship, and the State: The Writings of Nagisa Oshima, 1956-1978. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1992. P. 54-58.