Night And Fog In Japan

Nagisa Oshima’s Night and Fog in Japan (1960) is curious in its depiction of Japanese college students wrapped up in social causes and demonstrations. The political content is the most fascinating part of the film. It is pretty static in the camera work and drama like talking heads and flashbacks that dominate the action of the film, apparently there are only 46 cuts in the film. I realize that Oshima is taking the students to task for forgetting about their ideals and returning to more mundane issues like finishing their studies so that they can become good capitalist-in society by getting jobs, getting married and raising kids. The discussions of the factions within the factions and who betrayed who becomes confusing throughout. I feel that this is not one of his best films, but it seems to be a favorite among critics, to his credit he made three (!) in 1960.