Ko Nakahira - The Wild Child of The Sixties

“In the rip of a woman’s skirt and the buzz of a motorboat, sensitive people heard the heralding of a new generation of Japanese film.” This famous quote by master director Nagisa OSHIMA refers to Ko NAKAHIRA’s second film, the scandalous CRAZED FRUIT (1956). NAKAHIRA’s movies were fast-paced, stylish, and pushed the limits of what a studio film could do. Picked from over a thousand applicants by the major studio Shochiku – together with another wild child of style, Seijun SUZUKI – he switched to the studio Nikkatsu to make his directing debut as quickly as possible. His films involve a mixing of revolt and playfulness combined with bewitching formal experimentation. This “modern” feel inspired not only OSHIMA but all of the directors that in Europe and the U.S. became referred to as the “Japanese New Wave”. As the studio system collapsed, NAKAHIRA shot films in Hong Kong and switched to independent production in Japan, but continued his whirlwind exploration of the cinematic form until his early death in 1978, leaving behind many masterpieces of Japanese film.

Julian Ross (University of Leeds) will give an introduction to some of the films and Dr. Alex Zahlten (Harvard University) will give a lecture about THE DEATH OF JAPANESE CINEMA, THE BIRTH OF FILM FROM JAPAN: 1960S TODAY.