The Sting of Death

The Sting of Death is a 1990 Japanese film directed by Kōhei Oguri and based on the novel by Toshio Shimao. It tells the story of a writer with a wandering eye and his jealous wife. The film was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 63rd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Cast

Keiko Matsuzaka as Miho
Ittoku Kishibe as Toshio
Midori Kiuchi as Kuniko
Takenori Matsumura as Shin'ichi
Yuri Chikamori as Maya
Akira Yamanouchi as Masagaro a.k.a. Oji
Miyoko Nakamura as Riki a.k.a. Oba

Production

The film was partly shot on location in Kakeromajima, Amami Islands.

Awards

The Sting of Death won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Grand Prize of the Jury at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival where it was also nominated for the Golden Palm. In that year it also won the Hochi Film Award and the Nikkan Sports Film Award. In 1991 the film won the Award of the Japanese Academy, the Blue Ribbon Award, the Kinema Junpo Award and the Mainichi Film Concours.

Home media

Home video distributor Radiance Films released the film on Blu-ray in early 2024.