Death by Hanging

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Death by Hanging

1971,

1h 57m,

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

86%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

250+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

89%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

In Japan, a young Korean man (Do-yun Yu) rapes and kills two girls and is then sentenced to hang. But this punishment has no effect on the culprit other than amnesia, leaving the prison warden (Kei Satô) and chief of guards (Masao Adachi) stunned. The lawmen decide that they must show the convict why they're taking his life, so, with the help of their underlings, they begin to act out the prisoner's crimes. But they enjoy stepping into his shoes, which further complicates things.

Pat Padua

Washington City Paper

Mar 20, 2025

One braces the emotions for what must inevitably be a laborious two-hour ordeal. Would you believe the movie is absolutely hilarious?

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Pieter-Jan Van Haecke

Psychocinematography

Jan 3, 2021

Oshima's narrative is a true classic of political driven cinema that, perhaps contrary to one's expectations, remains as relevant today as it was in the past.

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Oct 13, 2020

3.5/5

Morbidly amusing, Death by Hanging features many of Oshima's signature flourishes, and is a fascinating mixture of social issue drama and surreal black comedy.

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Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

Jan 19, 2020

"Death by Hanging" is a unique film, both for its context and presentation, but also as the embodiment of Oshima's ideas regarding both society and cinema. A true classic.

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Eric Melin

Scene-Stealers.com

May 31, 2016

3/4

It hits the same note a little too often, but as long as you know that another subversion is just around the corner, you'll be as thrilled by the movie as I am.

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Mar 12, 2016

A-

It's brilliantly directed and co-written by Nagisa Oshima.

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George P

Dec 19, 2017

such an immensely interesting film; takes godardian standards & amplifies them to create one compact & bitter pellet.

Kylo S

Jan 18, 2017

Provoking and bizarre. Oshima is attacking and humiliating the Japanese fascist regime. Intelligent and real broad in the sense of the society structures. Minimalistic in surroundings, but paramount in imagination.

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Nagisa Ôshima

Director

Kei Satô

Prison warden

Fumio Watanabe

Education Officer

Toshirô Ishido

Priest

Masao Adachi

Chief of guards

Do-yun Yu

The convict

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Synopsis

In Japan, a young Korean man (Do-yun Yu) rapes and kills two girls and is then sentenced to hang. But this punishment has no effect on the culprit other than amnesia, leaving the prison warden (Kei Satô) and chief of guards (Masao Adachi) stunned. The lawmen decide that they must show the convict why they're taking his life, so, with the help of their underlings, they begin to act out the prisoner's crimes. But they enjoy stepping into his shoes, which further complicates things.

Director: Nagisa Ôshima
Screenwriter: Michinori Fukao, Mamoru Sasaki, Tsutomu Tamura
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Brothers/Seven Arts
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 8, 1971, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 9, 2016
Runtime: 1h 57m

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