Boy

When a man crippled during the war remarries, he and his new bride each bring a child from their previous relationship. With the father unable to hold a normal job, he forces his family to participate in fake hit-and-run incidents, to extort money from the unwitting drivers. To avoid capture, they move from town to town, gradually making their way north. The oldest boy seeks to escape the mounting tensions between his father and stepmother by running away and building an elaborate fantasy world for him and his little stepbrother. Based on a true story and breathtakingly shot on locations throughout Japan, this clear precursor to the films of Hirokazu Koreeda is Oshima’s most lyrical and touching film.