Nagisa Oshima, 80, a Japanese director internationally acclaimed for his films Empire of Passion and In the Realm of the Senses, has died of pneumonia.
His office said Mr. Oshima died Tuesday at a hospital near Tokyo after being in and out of hospitals since he suffered a stroke more than a decade ago.
A former student radical, he is best known for 1976's In the Realm of the Senses, based on a murder case set in pre-World War II Japan. It stirred a debate for its sex scenes. In 1978, Mr. Oshima won the best-director award at the Cannes festival with Empire of Passion.
