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I have seen this film in the late eighties, together with other Oshima's movies and I could collect only a vague impression of exoticism. This before I visited Japan, where I currently live.

I have seen it again last night and I can confirm that "Gishiki" portrays some of the most specific aspects of the Japanese culture. It is a movie deeply ingrained with the rebellion against traditional culture and family, which is typical of the late sixties-early seventies, not only in Japan, but also in Europe. The same can be said of the use of sexuality as a powerful device to offset the established values.

The powerful Sakurada clan is brought to ruin by the same force that keeps it together, the powerful grandfather. This happens in a sequence of rigidly choreographed family reunions, in occasions of funerals and weddings spanning several years following the end of the world. In this sense the world of the Sakuradas is so traditional that many scenes could be set in medieval Japan, with minor modifications in the dialogs and costumes. Ritual suicides and uncompassioned sex are recurring estranging events which follow and precede these ceremonies.

At the end what has been taken away from the protagonist is his very childhood, and hence his possibility to exist as a human being.

Nagisa Oshima, Japanese cinema's enfant terrible, introduces us to a dangerously nuclear family of alleged war criminals, communists, sex offenders and radical right-wingers, plus a former baseball pitcher and a katana-wielding cop thrown in apparently just for the sheer hell of it. Together, they comprise a mutual aberration society that milks dry the psychic stress and anguish of weddings and funerals. Is their shock-horror behavior offer convincing criticism of postwar Japanese society? Oshima leans into exploitation to score his points, but the net result sometimes smacks of "Mondo Cane" shockumentaries.

Thankfully, there are built-in safety valves when incest, loathing and degradation turn from dark to jet black. That's when some characters break out in honest laughter over their extended family's antics. In any case, it's a fine and foreboding warmup for Oshima's legendary topper, "In the Realm of the Senses."

Kenzo Kawarasaki returns from Manchuria to Japan; actually, he has no memory of Japan at all. He's part of a noble clan, dominated by his severe grandfather. He falls in love with Akiko Koyama, but it turns out she's his half-sister; his grandfather raped her mother, and grandpa seems to be his actual father. So they yearn, meet at weddings and funerals, and he never does anything, either in getting an heir or accomplishing anything.

But at least he's appropriately miserable. This is, after all, a film by Nagisa Oshima, and all the evils that past generations did must be revealed and punished, even if the innocent are the ones punished.

There's not a hint of compassion here. So why did I think I had seen this before? Then it struck me. Ignoring the war crimes and rapine, this is the plot of THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, their once mighty wealth brought down through a lack of get-up-and-go. But would ambition have changed anything?

A boy experiences traumas during WWII (which we don't see), and the subsequent 25 years of his life are a continuation of those traumas. Oshima skillfully depicts Japan's post-war evolution, and the ways the dark secrets of the past live on within the present. Gishiki is by no means an enjoyable film: the main character experiences nothing but losses, misfortunes, and humiliations. But this is a dark truth of life: anyone who lives long enough accumulates losses and failures, and for some, perhaps everything else is overtaken. In the end, the main character is left alone with nothing except his lost dreams and his endlessly repeating traumas. A very sad film, but one I'm glad to have seen.

It's a mystery to me why Oshima, and especially his movie Ceremony ( although my personal favourite is Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence) doesn't get the recognition he deserves, among the greatest directors. Possibly because, apart for the famous In the realm of the senses, very few have watched his films. Ceremony, in my opinion, is his best film. It is extraordinary how he constructs the narration of this family saga, and how he makes it resonate with thoughts and feelings in every minute of it, putting in shame all of the more applauded asian family stories that became famous movies over the kast decades. But he also surpasses many acclaimed European directors of his time. Ceremony is an undisputed masterpiece that you watch shivering , a proof that cinema can be made out of pure magic!

I hardly know where to start in describing this film. The story is told in flashback, as a conversation. From memory, there are about five flashback episodes, the longest covering the wedding of a young man, where the bride fails to show but the wedding proceeds. The young man continues the farce by attempting to have sex with a large pillow which he calls "darling".

The remainder of the film is just as weird, but I found it completely engrossing. Oshima appears to be attacking many aspects of Japanese modern culture with his scalpel-sharp satirical wit.

Not a film for everyone, but highly recommended nevertheless.

This film can be hard to watch for some. The family is very dysfunctional and the head of the family will make some people cringe.

As an American born in the 1980s, I do not know what the world was like after World War II. I especially don't know what the world was like for foreign countries after World War II especially those on the opposite side of America. A movie like this, although fiction, can give a sense of the struggles a nation might face, changing after World War II.

I thought the acting was well done. I'll admit I don't recognize any of the actors from other movies and I watched the movie with subtitles, but I could not stop watching this movie until the end.

I know a lot of people love this movie. For me it was not entirely successful. This is not one ceremony but many seen without any connection.

I saw a lot of events but I did not really feel I got to know any of the characters better and their motivation for their behavior. In fact I felt I knew as little about them when the movie ended as when it started.

I am not the big flashback fan for a starter. But some of the baseball things were contradicted from others as never happened. Well I have no idea now really if it did or was just made up. but again how much was then made up? What did really happen and what did not. For me not a great premise for a movie. This could as well have been all a dream.

Maybe I missed something because of the subtitles maybe not were adequate, but I doubt they could have missed that much. It did not help that I did not feel connected to any of the characters. At the same time I think their actions did not feel connected to other episodes in the paper thin story line.

I think I have seen many better and more subtle Japanese movies that were critical to society. This is not one for my collection

The Ceremony (1971), directed by Nagisa Ôshima, is a gripping and unsettling exploration of family dynamics, tradition, and the weight of unresolved secrets. The film follows a man who, after receiving a shocking telegram from his cousin, begins to recount his childhood and early life within a family filled with hidden histories. As he reflects, the viewer is slowly introduced to the dark, unsettling rituals and ceremonies that shape the family's interactions, revealing the deep psychological and emotional scars that have been passed down through generations.

Ôshima's direction is both meticulous and daring, using the family ceremonies as a metaphor for the societal structures that confine and suffocate its members. The pacing is deliberate, with long, drawn-out scenes that mirror the suffocating nature of the family's secrets. The film's cinematography is stark and calculated, using a minimalist aesthetic that highlights the emotional and psychological intensity of the narrative. The use of silence and quiet moments adds to the tension, allowing the viewer to feel the weight of the unspoken words and hidden truths.

Kenzô Kawarasaki, Atsuko Kaku, and Atsuo Nakamura deliver compelling performances that capture the complex dynamics of the family. The film's central character is torn between loyalty to his family and the realization that their traditions are built on lies and repression. His journey is one of self-discovery, as he comes to terms with the unsettling truths about his past and the cost of maintaining family unity.

The Ceremony is a film that demands careful attention, as its layered narrative and dense symbolism require deep engagement. The slow, almost ritualistic pacing of the film allows for a gradual buildup of tension, culminating in a haunting exploration of the destructive power of family secrets and the rituals that bind individuals to their past.

With its sharp critique of tradition, psychological complexity, and powerful performances, The Ceremony stands as one of Ôshima's most remarkable works. It's a deeply affecting film that resonates long after it ends, leaving viewers to reflect on the nature of family, identity, and the weight of the past.

Rating: 10/10. A masterful exploration of family, tradition, and psychological complexity, with haunting performances and a profound narrative.

(1971) The Ceremony/ Gishiki (In Japanese with English subtitles) PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA

Co-written and directed by Nagisa Ôshima that has Sakurada Masuo (Kenzô Kawarasaki) and Sakurada Ritsuko (Atsuko Kaku) receiving a telegram from Tachibana Terumichi (Atsuo Nakamura). And while waiting for their boat liner, Masuo and through his narration it is during then we get to witness what his life is like from the times of 1945 and 1947 when he was just a child viewers then get to see how he meets them as well as other people from within this particular clan to which some may describe as dysfunctional.

The movie is long talky and boring to pessimistic from the stand point of a fictional and exaggerate story line.