Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (新宿泥棒日記, Shinjuku Dorobō Nikki) is a 1969 Japanese New Wave film co-written and directed by Nagisa Ōshima.[2]
Diary of a Shinjuku Thief | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Kanji | 新宿泥棒日記 |
Revised Hepburn | Shinjuku Dorobō Nikki |
Directed by | Nagisa Ōshima |
Written by |
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Produced by | Masayuki Nakajima |
Starring |
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Cinematography |
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Edited by | Nagisa Ōshima |
Production company | Sōzōsha |
Distributed by | Art Theatre Guild |
Release date |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Synopsis
editThe film centers around Birdie, a young Japanese book thief who is caught by a store clerk named Umeko. As their encounters grow increasingly fraught with tension and desire, the two become lovers and begin committing thefts together. They also take part in a kabuki play based on the lives of Yui Shōsetsu and Marubashi Chūya.
Cast
edit- Tadanori Yokoo as Birdey Hilltop
- Rie Yokoyama as Umeko Suzuki
- Moichi Tanabe
- Tetsu Takahashi
- Kei Satō
- Rokko Toura as himself
- Fumio Watanabe as himself
- Jūrō Kara as himself / singer
- Reisen Ri
Reception
editRoger Greenspun of The New York Times called most of the film dull "with an air of having been produced only for purposes of demonstration", concluding that "the result is a high-powered sterility in the midst of much energetic busyness."[3] The film was described by Ronald Bergan, in his Guardian obituary of Oshima, as "an explosive agitprop movie equating sexual liberation with revolution, whose impact has cooled only marginally."[4]
References
edit- ^ "新宿泥棒日記 (Diary of a Shinjuku Thief)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ "新宿泥棒日記 (Diary of a Shinjuku Thief)". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 January 2021.
- ^ Greenspun, Roger (6 July 1973). "Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (1968)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ Bergan, Ronald (15 January 2013). "Nagisa Oshima obituary". The Guardian.
External links
edit- Diary of a Shinjuku Thief at IMDb
- Diary of a Shinjuku Thief at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)