Nagisa Oshima’s film style is difficult to generalize, but one thing is certain, that is, most of the content he talks about in the film is not what he wants to express. They are usually just symbols and do not constitute a certain purpose or conclusion. For example, in "The World of Senses," someone asked me, what is the difference between this and a certain type of movie? It is difficult for me to answer him. Because watching Oshima’s movies requires a keen sense of touch, or a kind of sensitive instinct, which has nothing to do with rationality and does not require real life experience. To put it straightforwardly: if you understand, you understand, if you don’t understand, you don’t understand. If you don’t understand, you will always treat it as something. On this point, Oshima has always been very decisive. But relatively speaking, "Gofado" has more elements of rational control. This is Oshima's work in his later years, and it is a general view of his overall thinking. If Oshima’s other films are all about the analysis of a certain part of his thoughts, then the coverage of "Goofado" will be more general.
Most people's understanding of the first level of "Yofado" is that this is a movie about same-sex love. Homosexuality is not the first time Oshima has chosen the subject matter. It can even be said that Oshima’s earlier work "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" explores "love" more thoroughly than "Gofado". "Yofado" is not entirely a romance film, so the main purpose of choosing the subject of homosexuality this time is not only to show "love". In my opinion, this represents a posture of Oshima: to draw a line from the normal human relationship. In fact, we can also see some signs from the name of the movie. Law: It can be understood as the principle of law and morality, while imperialism means superior to... To be above the law, that is, to go beyond the principles of the law, to break away from the norms. So everything in it is abnormal, subversive, and rebellious. This is the spirit of "Gofado", and it is also the spirit of Oshima. So he made the film very obscure, so that you either can't watch it or you will always be ignorant. As for the true meaning, maybe only he knows, and God knows.
Let's take a look at Oshima's rebellious and destructive behavior, if that's what he wants to express. First of all, I think most people should be the same as me, who was fascinated by Ghana, played by Matsuda Ryuhei. Ghana is a very ambiguous character. From the outside, he is so beautiful, so beautiful that people almost suffocate his breath. The close-up of his eyes and lips in the lens makes his beauty infinitely magnified. This is between men and women. The beauty beyond men and women makes people feel dangerous and confused. In the Shinsengumi, Ghana’s body will always be occupied. It is probably because of his feminine temperament, but mentally, he has really conquered most of the people in the group, even the deputy leader of the group. Failed to escape. Although the entire Shinsengumi has strict laws and bans this ability, it turns a blind eye to Ghana and the male style caused by Ghana, and deliberately ignores it. It can be seen that the conquest of the body does not lead to the conquest of consciousness. Those warriors who are obsessed with Ghana are the real weak. They are strictly controlled by him in spirit, and they are not airtight. This is the first pair of paradoxes.
Of course, only having erotic desire is far from enough in Oshima's works. With love, there will naturally be death. This is a pair of hard brothers. For entering the new selection group, Ghana gave the reason to be able to kill, which shows the desire for killing soaked in his blood. When he executed the prisoners in the group for the first time, his movements were so sophisticated and swift, it was hard to believe that such a novice was only able to rely on courage. The conspiracy described in a large part of the film, in summary, is that he used Tashiro and Yuzawa's fascination with him to harm them and let him taste the pleasure of murder. Speaking of love, in fact, none of them loves any of them. Because they don't love, they succeeded. Many comments in the past believe that Ghana is controlled by lust and death. I think the control here can be understood as a relationship of pros and cons: Passive lust leads to active killing; while active love leads to Passive death. This is also a pair of contradictions. In contrast, there is the final outcome of Ghana. Ghana was killed by Shinsengumi's top player Ikeda because he loved Ikeda, but Ikeda didn't love him. This is a reverse proof. Love makes people weak, which is true for the dead Tashiro and Yuzawa, and it is no different for Ghana. Because of his weakness, he must use extreme killings to cover up, trying to make himself strong. But in fact, the greatest strength is ruthlessness, and ruthlessness is the only foundation that can survive. In Oshima’s law, love and death are connected, and the bond that connects them is lust. In other words, the expression of love is lust, and lust is clear, but love is dark and unclear. From beauty and lust to love and death, this seems to be a consistent theme permeating his works, not too new. I repeat here, perhaps just to reinforce the profoundness of this kind of thinking.
In fact, Oshima still has a consistent theme, which is expressed more suggestively and obscurely in his works, that is, anti-system. On this point, some clues can be seen from the explanation of the name "Yufadu" above. In addition, from the perspective of the overall environment of the content of the film, in 1865, Kyoto, Shinsengumi, an organization composed of the best samurai, should be full of masculine and military style. The precepts of the Shinsengumi written in calligraphy that appeared in the beginning of the film are extremely strict. If any of them is violated, they will be sentenced to capital punishment. The warrior who was executed by Ghana who violated the precepts of Ghana was physically impregnable by "laws". However, the emergence of Ghana embodies the concept of "imperial". The male sex is controlled by the law. Most people in the Xinseng Group have a strong desire for Ghana. Even the earthwork is hard for themselves. He is trying to gain insight into the beauty of Ghana. The secretive and unspeakable soul underneath his appearance, on the one hand, he can't favor and protect him by himself. As the representatives of the samurai, whether it is the earthwork, Tashiro, Yuzawa, they are all rushing to fall into the temptation of beauty, blinded by lust. And Ikeda, who is equally beautiful and superb in martial arts, has always been sober about this dangerous beauty. The story of the "Chrysanthemum League" he told the earthwork completely is the most obvious hint. The deep brotherhood between the teacher and the samurai for many years is actually a misunderstanding. There is an unspeakable same-sex love between them, just like the love of the people in the Shinsengumi for Ghana. But the truth is always obscured, whether it is the essence of "love", the fundamental understanding of the samurai class, or the omnipotence of the social system. Samurai, morality, loyalty, and law are all misunderstandings and misunderstandings in Oshima's eyes. What is covered is the directness of desire, the fragility of human nature, and the inability to extricate themselves from beauty and color. In his view, the system, like the precepts of the Xinseng Group, is a blinding method set up to conceal the truth. It may be able to bind the weak, but it cannot resist the truth and strength of human nature.
In "Gofado", Oshima once again affirmed the "beauty" above the system. The beauty here can include beauty, eroticism, and of course, love. But can such "beauty" be allowed to exist forever? the answer is negative. This also explains why the film uses same-sex love and uses an ambiguous man as a symbol of "beauty". Because the "beauty" here, relative to the system, is a taboo, a rebellious and extremely harmful thing. Since the system exists to cover it, it is inherently destined to not coexist with the system. This is a life-and-death struggle. As a result, Oshima returned to the Yamato nation’s traditional concept of "beauty" that is fleeting, thinking that everything that breaks through the system cannot survive, so let him go to death vigorously. The last cherry tree that the earthworker looked at was Oshima's final interpretation of "beauty". Because of beauty, it died. So decisive.
"Gofado" is a thoroughly pessimistic work, and it uses a seemingly soft and deep, but in fact extremely intense posture to present it, which seems to be a unique way of expression for the Japanese nation. So some people say that Nagisa Oshima is an anti-traditional director, and I can't agree with it. Because Oshima has always used Japan's most traditional aesthetic concepts to view and solve problems, even the various images used in the film can well represent the characteristics of Japanese culture. The purpose of the anti-system is to return to tradition and to be loyal to the fundamental national character of this nation. In this sense, Oshima deserves to be a Japanese director. He belongs to Japan and the world.
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