'Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence' director Nagisa Oshima dies at 80

The Japanese director of acclaimed second world war prison camp drama Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, Nagisa Oshima, died yesterday, his son said. He was 80.

Oshima, who had a critical hit with the controversial erotic work In the Realm of the Senses, which famously contained scenes of actors having sex, had been ill for some time.

"My father died calmly," Arata Oshima said.

"He was with members of his family, wife Akiko and elder son Takeshi. I wasn't there.

"My father had been in hospital since late last year and died of pneumonia."

The younger Oshima was speaking from his late father's home in Fujisawa near Kamakura, outside Tokyo.

Oshima's cinematic career began in earnest in the 1960s with a series of films with political themes, establishing his reputation as a serious director.