La Pendaison

This 1968 black and white film was made by the Japanese New Wave director Nagisa Oshima. It's a dark satire, often farcical in nature, which takes shots at such issues as the treatment of Koreans in Japan, capital punishment, bureaucracy and its bungling bureaucrats, and censorship, among other subjects.

A young Korean man, named R in the movie, has been sentenced to death by hanging by the Japanese courts for rape and murder. However, when he does not die after the attempted execution, it will set off a whole series of wild and farcical events, as the attending officials try and get the amnesiac R to remember who he is and admit to his guilt so they can attempt to execute him again,

Overall, lots of effective satirical barbs thrown by Oshima, but the film just got too drawn out, even tedious, as it progressed and became too dramatically overwrought as well.

The film begins with a documentary style look at a Japanese execution chamber. An unseen narrator explains that the vast majority of people still support the death penalty before the image shifts across a prison to the death camber itself. This chamber looks old fashioned, quaint even, both from the interior and exterior. As the building seems so archaic it's almost hard to imagine that people are actually brought there to die. One doesn't have to imagine, however, since the execution ritual is quickly and efficiently carried out as soon as the viewer is acquainted with the setting. Everything goes smoothly in this case except for one thing: the guilty man is certainly hanged but he continues to live.

After a brief recuperation, R, the condemned man, awakens with a strong case of amnesia. The confused officials quickly reveal themselves as fools without the ability to react critically. They are determined to execute this man again but they won't feel right about it until he remembers who he is and why this is happening to him. The rest of the film consists of various people helping R regain the memories of who he is and how he got into this situation. The actions of the various people are often comically absurd as they attempt reenactments of various parts of R's life including his childhood in a slum reserved for "inferior" Koreans and the murders he has been convicted of. It's often a funny film but the subject matter is too serious for it to be seen as anything but the blackest of comedies.

This is very much a social issues film for ardent leftist director Nagisa Oshima and several issues are dealt with including capital punishment (of course), nationalism, racism, violence against women, and the postwar lives of war criminals. There is never any doubt which side Oshima is on for any of these issues: the film is unsubtle if not downright didactic. Still, Oshima's prodigious talent as a film-maker greatly increase the effectiveness of this film and many of these issues are still quite relevant all over the world today. This film is not quite as masterful as 1969's less obvious Boy but it's still a worthy of the attention of people interested in Japanese culture and/or Nagisa Oshima.

Oshima is a director who usually leaves you in no doubt about what he thinks, but he goes all out here. This film is a strong polemic against the death penalty as practiced in Japan. The condemned man fails to die, and those in the death chamber panic and wonder what to do. After about five minutes of narration (by Oshima himself), the characters gear into action, using Oshima's chosen method : black farce. This is a very funny film, and all the more so because it confronts some very edgy stuff and often crosses the line to outrage. Oshima, as he often does, attacks Japan's sacred cows head on. As well as the death penalty, he deals with prejudice against Koreans, rape, politics, respect for authority and much more.

The acting is excellent, particularly the Korean who plays the condemned man. His calm poise provides an excellent balance to the mania of the officials around him, as they try to make him remember who he is and what he's done.

Strong stuff, warmly recommended.

I wasn't expecting it but after the first few minutes of what would seem to be an ordinary documentary the story falls in rapid succession into calamity, mystery, horror, absurdity and heaps upon heaps of surrealism and ultimately falling completely out of touch with reality. We're in new territory here. It's like Buñuel on steroids with a side order of TNT. The film wears you down as the characters flip flop through their machinations about how to deal with the after affects of a botched execution. Why don't they just shoot the guy in the head and get it over with? That would be a hell of a lot easier. I loved this movie, but I'll have to give my brain a few months to digest it before watching it again.

This is a very good movie. There are moments of brilliance, funny and emotional moments and for sure, this made me think a lot.

It started as a dark comedy but as it progressed, it became something else. Something like an absurd, Kafkaesque satire/psychological drama. Definitely, it was unpredictable and it took a lot of risks. I admire director's boldness. I love overambitious movies, even why they failed, because at least, the creators dared to present something different and visionary. DEATH BY HANGING didn't fail but it became at times, disjointed and unfocused. I am not gonna lie, i didn't understand everything i watched, it was too confusing at some point.

But still, the pros outweigh the cons by a lot. It was a brilliant movie. And innovative. This is pure art, pure Cinema.