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Diary of a Shinjuku Thief

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Diary of a Shinjuku Thief
Theatrical release poster
Kanji新宿泥棒日記
Revised HepburnShinjuku Dorobō Nikki
Directed byNagisa Ōshima
Written by
Produced byMasayuki Nakajima
Starring
Cinematography
  • Yasuhiro Yoshioka
  • Sēzō Sengen
Edited byNagisa Ōshima
Production
company
Sōzōsha
Distributed byArt Theatre Guild
Release date
  • 15 February 1969 (1969-02-15) (Japan)[1]
Running time
96 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

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]

Synopsis

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The 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

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Reception

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Roger 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

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  1. ^ "新宿泥棒日記 (Diary of a Shinjuku Thief)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  2. ^ "新宿泥棒日記 (Diary of a Shinjuku Thief)". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Bergan, Ronald (15 January 2013). "Nagisa Oshima obituary". The Guardian.
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