Capital Celluloid 2026 — Day 236: Tue Aug 25

The Man Who Left his Will on Film (Oshima, 1970): ICA Cinema, 8.30pm

This film, which is also screened on August 23rd, is part of the Nagisa Oshima season at the ICA Cinema. You can find the full details here

Time Out review:
This is Oshima's post-1968 analysis of the failure and disillusionment of the student Left, and it's among his most biting and cautionary films. Like Death by Hanging and other movies, it starts with a riddle (the real or imaginary disappearance of a student militant), and then follows through all the implications with a remorseless logic. Another student sets out to trace the missing boy, fearing that he committed suicide; his only leads are conversations with the militant's estranged girlfriend and a roll of film shot by the boy just before he vanished. But it's less a mystery thriller than a series of provocative questions. What is militancy? Does 'struggle' mean violence? Is it really possible for an individual to identify with the interests of a group? And what part do sexual problems play in determining the feelings and actions of young people?
Tony Rayns 

Here (and above) is the trailer.

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