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Genius provocateur Nagisa Oshima (In the Realm of the Senses), an influential figure in the Japanese New Wave of the 1960s, made one of his most startling political statements with the compelling pitch-black satire Death by Hanging. 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, Oshima s constantly surprising film is a subversive and surreal indictment of both capital punishment and the treatment of Korean immigrants in his country. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES - New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack - New interview with critic Tony Rayns - New high-definition digital transfer of director Nagisa Oshima s 1965 experimental short documentary Diary of Yunbogi - Trailer - New English subtitle translation - PLUS: An essay by critic Howard Hampton

Description

Deep in the windswept marshes of war-torn medieval Japan, an impoverished older woman and her daughter-in-law murder lost samurai and sell their belongings for the most meager of sustenance. When a bedraggled neighbor returns from battle, lust, jealousy, and rage threaten to destroy the trio's tenuous existence, before an ominous, ill-gotten demon mask seals their horrifying fate. Driven by primal emotions, dark eroticism, a frenzied score by Hikaru Hayashi, and stunning images both lyrical and macabre, the chilling folktale Onibaba by Kaneto Shindo conjures a nightmarish vision of humankind's deepest desires and impulses. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES Restored high-definition transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Audio commentary from 2001 featuring director Kaneto Shindo and actors Kei Sato and Jitsuko Yoshimura Interview from 2003 with Shindo On-location footage shot by Sato Trailer PLUS: An essay by film critic Elena Lazic, a 2001 director's statement by Shindo, and a version of the Buddhist fable that inspired the film