Audience Member
A fairly bleak coming of age tale set in a Japanese high school overrun with daily violence. We follow our lead as he comes to power as the leader of the school's most powerful gang, then spend the running time of the film watching him growing increasingly disillusioned with the 'power' that the position actually gives him. This naturally leads to a confrontation with a former pal, etc., and it's a pretty decent little watch overall.
Rental!
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/07/23
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Audience Member
I haven't watch any other Toyoda's works but this is def Taiyo Matsumoto's. The melancholy and darkness. When you think about highschool angst, this is what you get. Heartbreaking.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Toyoda's bleak, fierce and rebellious essay about high-school youth is one stylish delivery that marks Toyoda's comeback to straightforward moviemaking after a documentary effort.
Maybe the first concern that people will face when stumbling upon this underknown gem is the suspension of disbelief it requires for buying this hypothetically anarchich high-school environment, where teachers are unrealistically permissive and even run away from the students for their own safety, where there is not enough security looking after the <b>crimes</b> committed in this space, where "education" seems to be ridiculously banal. But remember: it is surreal. All essays dealing with contemporary problems (not only about youth, but about any topic of social relevance) can allow themselves to be unrealistic and unconventional sometimes to deliver a message in a stronger way.
So remember, it is a surreal examination of a hypothetically anarchic environment and, moreover, it is based on a manga. I found about the latter after finishing the film, but indeed, while I was watching it (and ergo before I knew it was based on a manga), I wondered how this would have come across or received if made in anime form. It has all the bizarre trademarks for bringing a realistic setting unrealistically, so imagining this as an anime feature, with its potential success, is not hard at all. So why am I using the word "hypothetically" too much? Because of the "suppose that..." game we are invited to play:
Suppose that we take the real problems of youth nowadays and transmit them to a school. Suppose, however, that adults don't matter, students are not asked to be disciplined pervasively enough, and internal security is not existent. To what extent, therefore, could the behavioral tendencies of youth evolve if given more liberties, that is, if granted more permissions? Toyoda directs this violent and weird hypothesis about a possible answer, which can be interpreted either as a wake-up call for both young and adult generations (their parents), or as a symbolic tale about any oppressive form of government, where rulers are worshipped and followed with fundamentalist loyalty, and base their ruling period with an iron-fist type of imposition. Of course, the internal conflicts are not excluded, including a follower that decides to rebel against the present ruler for overthrowing him.
The fantastic final act convinced me of the final rating, where we learn that everything that cannot blossom is destined to remain dead, as in a flower. We learn this reflection from the only adult that actually has a relevance plotwise... and this adult happens to be a dwarf. But does this rule apply deterministically against humanity as well? Or is a human being capable of changing? Can light be originated in the middle of darkness?
97/100
P.S. It is impactful the degree to which the film manages that you care about the characters each new minute. That's something hard to achieve.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
One of my favorite coming-of-age films ever. Much like how certain aspects of Boyz-n-the-Hood was embellished, this movie is no different.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I do not understand what this film is making. It only shows violence, highschool yakuzas, suicide and gore.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
01/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Why did you make me cry??
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
Full Review
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