Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.

See what’s playing
Death by Hanging
Death by Hanging
8.5
/10
975 Ratings

DEATH BY HANGING

Kôshikei

Directed by Nagisa Ôshima
Japan, 1968
Comedy, Crime, Drama

Synopsis

In this macabre farce, a Korean man is sentenced to death in Japan but survives his execution, sending the authorities into a panic about what to do next. At once disturbing and oddly amusing, Nagisa Ôshima’s constantly surprising film is a startlingly subversive and surreal political statement.

Synopsis

In this macabre farce, a Korean man is sentenced to death in Japan but survives his execution, sending the authorities into a panic about what to do next. At once disturbing and oddly amusing, Nagisa Ôshima’s constantly surprising film is a startlingly subversive and surreal political statement.

Our take

Exploring crime on both an individual and national level, Nagisa Oshima’s riotous comedy doubles as a dense, contradicting critique of hypocrisy and corruption. An absurdist farce shot in a faux-documentary style—influenced by the innovations of Jean-Luc Godard and Bertold Brecht.