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A more straightforward movie from Oshima. It may appear very cold, given the sentimental nature of the subject, but it does develop Oshima's marvelous propaganda tone towards the end. Yu Do-yun, the convict R from Koshikei, makes a cameo appearance as one of the victim drivers.CitarA film that may be less obviously formally experimental than some of Oshima's contemporary works, but is no less politically charged, Boy follows in the footsteps of Death by Hanging in questioning Japan's relationship with it's marginalized, or poor people. Looking like a sequel to the montage documentary Diary of a Yunbogi Boy made a few years earlier for television, Boy is one of Oshima's most humanist films.
Boy can be read from a multitude of angles: as coming of age story, family melodrama, deconstruction and reconstruction of the "scam" film (with an overt connection to some of Oshima's earlier films, especially Cruel Story of Youth), and above all, a socio-political examination of the desperate bottom rung of post-war Japan. A nameless Japanese boy is brought up by a WWII veteran father and apathetic step-mother pulling scams, in which the boy plays innocent bystander victim, where car accidents are faked and capitalized upon.
While some found the film to be a step backward for Oshima, many consider it one of his greatest achievements, and Tamura Takeshi took home both Kinema Jumpo and Mainichi awards for best screenplay in 1970 for it. Jonathan Rosenbaum picked it as one of his favourite films for 1969, and Dereck Malcolm says that it's "linked to a warmth of expression that Oshima has seldom emulated since."(http://img9.imagevenue.com/loc376/th_62033_shonen1_122_376lo.jpg) (http://img9.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=62033_shonen1_122_376lo.jpg)(http://img151.imagevenue.com/loc419/th_62127_shonen2_122_419lo.jpg) (http://img151.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=62127_shonen2_122_419lo.jpg)(http://img142.imagevenue.com/loc454/th_62131_shonen3_122_454lo.jpg) (http://img142.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=62131_shonen3_122_454lo.jpg)(http://img160.imagevenue.com/loc555/th_62136_shonen4_122_555lo.jpg) (http://img160.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=62136_shonen4_122_555lo.jpg)
Hay quienes dicen que esta es su obra maestra.