Movieo
Poster for Boy

Boy

1969 · 1h 38m Crime, Drama
Directed by Nagisa Ōshima

Seen it?

Overview

A family of four lives off of scams in which they pretend to be injured by automobiles. After suffering an injury during the war, the father believes he is an invalid. He and his wife have a 10-year-old boy and another, younger boy. The adults pretend to be injured by autos in crowded traffic, blackmailing the fearful motorists with threats to call in the police.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
100%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Oshima, the Japanese filmmaker most often compared with Godard, treats the material in a matter-of-fact manner that serves to heighten the dramatic impact and to create one of the most interesting films about children ever made.

Don Druker, Chicago Reader
Fresh

Happiness and contentment are not in the cards for Toshio, and Oshima never sentimentalizes his existence nor lets him off the hook for his crimes. But still we feel, deeply and profoundly, for this lost soul.

Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
Fresh

This is what contemporary Japan looks like, it says: Not pillow shots and sword fights, just a country populated largely by predators and prey.

David Fear, Village Voice
Fresh

Nagisa Oshima offers a quietly bilious vision of mercenary corruption and postwar trauma.

Richard Brody, New Yorker

Comments

Talk about the film with other members

More films