The cultural significance of the films of Nagisa Ôshima is certainly something I am no expert on, nor do I claim to be. While I've seen a few hundred Japanese movies, as an American I may miss things older Japanese viewers might have picked up on while watching his films. I do know that in general, he was a man who was very disenchanted by both the right and left....feeling as if traditional Japanese culture had let the country down but also feeling that communism and the left wasn't an answer either. And, he tended to point out his dislike of them and modern Japanese society in many of his films.
The point of "Nihon shunka-kô" ("Sing a Song of Sex") appears to be the moral bankruptcy in modern Japanese society....at least that is what I got from the story. It shows four morally vacuous high school students during the period where they take their college entrance exams. Instead of focusing on this and getting serious about their lives, the four spend all their time talking about and fantasizing about sex. To some degree, this is normal for teenage boys...but it goes far beyond that in this story. They fantasize about rape, talk trash about the girls in their class and seem to have no consciences. In one portion of the film, a group of students go out drinking with their teacher and the teacher gets quite drunk and gets them hotel rooms so they can sleep it off. During the night, the teacher dies due to a freak accident. The girls are heartbroken. The boys couldn't care less and even make fun of the grieving girls! Clearly, these guys are a symptom of the sick modern Japan....with no compassion, no empathy, no feeling, and only a desire to fulfill their own lusts.
I would try to recount all of the plot but amazingly, there really isn't any....and apart from the death of the teacher, the story seems more like a snapshot of the boys' lives and nothing more. They just seem to exist...fantasizing and acting like creeps. And, after a while, it's a bit tedious. I assume the director actually intended to evoke this....as his films were often so critical of society.
One thing "Nihon shunka-kô" ("Sing a Song of Sex") has in common with most American films of the era is having high school students being portrayed by folks well into their 20s. I have no idea why this was done so often and in the case of this film perhaps they did it because the plot is so sexual in nature and having teens acting these parts might have been problematic. Regardless, most were about 23-25, not 17 or 18.
Another interesting thing about the film are some cultural references we would normally have no idea about here in the States. First, there was apparently an anti-Vietnam war movement in Japan and you see folks singing petitions about it and later singing about it. Second, there was a protest in which they were calling for the repeal of Foundation Day...which had just been re-instated in 1966. The reason for this isn't in the film, so I read up on it. Apparently, it was instituted back in the 19th century and was bathed in nationalism, Bushido as well as mythology about the founding of Japan. It also has been strongly associated with the nationalism which led to WWII, and was banned by the American occupying forces in 1946. Its reinstatement is seen by some as a move towards this reactionary nationalism and is still a concern by many even today. Clearly Nagisa Ôshima was not avoiding but embracing controversy and cultural upheaval in this film.
So is this any good? Yes and no. If you are looking to learn about Japan, it's actually very informative. The 1950s and 60s were a tough time for Japan as it sought its identity. If you are looking for a film that is fun or enjoyable to watch, well, this certainly isn't it! Challenging but not fun....that's how I saw this movie.
By the way, although sex is a pervasive theme, there is little nudity in the film. There is, however, a weird rape fantasy where a woman is attacked and enjoys it....as an entire classroom watches and couldn't seem to care less. It's weird and unsexy...but might be upsetting to some viewers.
