Death by Hanging

The botched execution of a Korean citizen convicted of rape and murder brings the judiciary system to a halt, as wardens, prosecutors, medics, and even the clergy discuss whether a man who survived execution can be executed a second time. They fail to see that the convict has a will of his own, even though the accident seems to have wiped away any memory of the crime he committed. Oshima’s assault on the institutionalised racism against Japan’s Korean population, the absurdities of its judicial system and the cruelty of the death penalty takes the form of a black comedy set almost entirely within the execution chamber. Combining his usual stable of actors with novice performers, the result is an irreverent satire where the laughs never undermine the seriousness of the subject matter