DEATH BY HANGING (Koshikei)   Director: Nagisa Oshima Year: 1968 Runtime: 117 min. Country: Japan Language: Japanese with English subtitles Color: B&W Format: 16mm

This sad tale, based on a true story of a Japanese-born Korean student found guilty of rape and murder, is turned by director Nagisa Oshima (In the Realm of the Senses, Taboo) into a black farce reminiscent of the darkly satirical, anti-authoritarian films of Luis Buñuel. The film opens with the hanging of the criminal, but the noose fails to kill him. Instead he gets amnesia, and the executioners and officials reenact the crime, hoping to jog his memory and prove that he is guilty. Soon they begin to identify with their roles, and the line blurs between the crime and its reenactment. One of Oshima's most highly regarded films, Death by Hanging is a notoriously bitter indictment of both capital punishment and Japanese nationalism. "a surprisingly uproarious contemplation of the moral issues involved in capital punishment." — Vincent Canby, The New York Times "One of Nagisa Oshima's very best. Entertaining, gripping, mind-boggling, often humorous, and very much alive." — Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader     showtime Tuesday, September 27 at 7 pm location THE GREEN ROOM 144 West Street (across from the Comstock Hotel) admission $6 general / $4 GBFS members

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