The Catch (1961 film)

The Catch (Japanese: 飼育, romanized: Shiiku, lit. 'Breeding') is a 1961 Japanese war drama film directed by Nagisa Ōshima.[1][2] It is based on the prize-winning novella Shiiku (translated as The Catch or Prize Stock) by Kenzaburō Ōe.[3]

The Catch
飼育
Directed byNagisa Ōshima
Written by
Produced by
  • Saburo Tajima
  • Masayuki Nakajima
Starring
CinematographyYoshiji Shakawa
Edited byMiyuri Miyamori
Music byRiichirō Manabe
Production
company
Palace Film Pro
Distributed byTaiho
Release date
  • 22 November 1961 (1961-11-22) (Japan)[1][2]
Running time
105 minutes[1][2]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

During the summer of 1945, a U.S. plane crashes in a rural Japanese area. The villagers capture the surviving black pilot and lock him in a stable, awaiting official instructions how to proceed with their prisoner. While waiting, seething conflicts in the community come to the surface. Takano, the domineering and abusive local landlord, uses the villagers' anger and frustrations, which they blame on the captive, to turn the attention away from his own misdeeds and eventually kills him. Shortly after, Japan's defeat is declared. The community decides to make deserter Jirō, who had been hiding in the woods to escape his draft, responsible for the incident. Jirō first agrees, but then rebels against the plan, and is accidentally killed in a subsequent fight. The last scene shows the burning of Jirō's and the captive's bodies, looked upon by Jirō's younger brother Hachiko, who had unsuccessfully tried to save the prisoner.

Cast

Background

The Catch was Ōshima's first independently produced film after leaving the Shochiku studio.[4]

Awards

Legacy

The Catch was presented at retrospectives on Ōshima at the Museum of Modern Art,[6] the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive[7] and the Harvard Film Archive.[8] It was screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2011.[9]

Ōe's novella was again adapted in 2011 as Gibier d'élevage by director Rithy Panh, who transferred the setting to early 1970s Cambodia.[10]

References
  1. "飼育". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  2. "飼育". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  3. "飼育". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  4. Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1982). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry (Expanded ed.). ISBN 9780691007922.
  5. "毎日映画コンクール 第16回（1961年）". Mainichi (in Japanese). Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  6. "Controversial Japanese Filmmaker Nagisa Oshima to Inaugurate his Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art" (PDF). MOMA. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  7. "The Catch". BAMPFA. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  8. "The Catch (Shiiku)". Harvard Film Archive. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  9. "The Catch". Tokyo International Film Festival. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  10. "Gibier d'élevage (The Catch). 2011. Directed by Rithy Panh". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 10 August 2023.

Bibliography
  • Ōe, Kenzaburo (1981). "The Catch". In Saeki, Shōichi (ed.). The Catch and Other War Stories. Kodansha International. ISBN 9780870114571.
  • Ōe, Kenzaburo (1977). "Prize Stock". Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness. Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-5185-8.
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