Audience Member
I liked seeing a raw, edgy, uninhibited side of Japan, and director Nagisa Oshima's style which mirrored the French New Wave directors from this period whom he admired. I liked the nice cuts and shots he captured, the rock and jazz music in the soundtrack, and his unflinching look at the cynicism present in Japan following WWII. There are some who relate it to "Rebel Without a Cause", but I don't like the comparison, because "Cruel Story of Youth" is over-the-top in its darkness and nihilism, none of the characters are likeable, and one doesn't get any sense of the 'tragic, misunderstood, disaffected youth' or feel empathy towards them. There's also not enough content which relates their delinquent behavior to their upbringing or the times which would allow us to see it as an indictment of society.
You could say all this darkness is because life in Japan after the war was far darker than America, and while there is some truth to that, the film's biggest problem is the cruelty towards women which pervades it. You'll see attempted rape, rape (twice), attempted forced prostitution, an extortion scheme that involves using a woman as bait in dangerous situations, using women young and old as sex objects without any feeling, and utter indifference to abortion from a surprise pregnancy. Cruel story, indeed. The lead female character is shockingly stupid. There are some characters in films who are just stupid, regardless of their sex, but this is part of a larger theme. The film is all about in-your-face rebellion in its content, frankness, and even style (which I ordinarily love) - and yet how sad is that Oshima perpetuates the (very traditional) theme of misogyny. It's the combination of this and the general unlikeability of the whole thing that tempers my review score to an average rating, for what is such a landmark film from a talented director.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
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s r
Tragic and sad, but a powerful movie.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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Audience Member
A fairly interesting "modern" story and look, especially for it's time, but very uneven direction and performances. The film started off fine but got more and more erratic and awkward, especially in the later half with a badly done ending. Still a pretty strong story, I could see this film being remade and improved though, doing well with contemporary audiences.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/14/23
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Audience Member
Nagisa Oshima's second film is a key entry in the Japanese new wave of the 1960's but is still quite conventional by his later standards. Miyuki Kuwano plays a motherless high school girl ("Mako") who comes under the influence of bad boy "Kiyoshi" (played by Yusuke Kawazu) who seems to care little about anything or anyone. He uses violence to get his way (including with Mako) and sells his body to an older woman for money and favours. She is hopelessly and helplessly naïve but sees value in rebelling against her father, older sister, and school. Together, they develop a scam to rob older guys who pick her up on the street but this doesn't always turn out well. Most of the time, they are alienated and confused, not caring about the consequences of their actions. Oshima is purposefully sensational and melodramatic here, commenting explicitly on post-war Japan's social problems. But he also uses the widescreen format to create dazzling colour arrangements, bordering on the experimental and he wilfully defies viewer expectations (as in a long scene where Kiyoshi simply eats an apple in giant close-up). Oshima would take this approach further in the rest of his career but here he sows the seeds of his later rebellion.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
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Audience Member
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Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This early work by film radical Nagisa Oshima is a frenetic examination of a lost youth, set against the background of the U.S./Japan Security Treaty demonstrations of 1960. It is an angry and difficult movie that sets up two characters only to have them knocked down and replaced over and over again, each time both drawing us into their lives and isolating themselves as reckless, hopeless and doomed. Though both of these characters takes a central focus in the film, only one of them, Mako (played by Miyuki Kuwano), is a pure victim in this unfolding tragedy. She is innocent and child-like, and even the wild side of her that leads her so astray is pure, well-meaning. It is the self-centered Kiyoshi (Yasuke Kawazu) who enables that wild side of her to show itself fully after he rescues her from some lusty thugs. Kiyoshi is an interesting take on a hero; his bravery originally endears us to him, but Oshima slowly reveals that he is just as much of a cocky womanizer himself, and over the course of the film questions of morality are raised as we see him alternately delight and abuse the poor Mako. Oshima intends us to take on the perspectives of parents, full of worry and disconnect, though he also intends for us to grow to respect the idea that each new generation will have its own struggles, its own ideas and actions that the people who came before it will not understand. Some are good and many are bad, and there will always be great tragedies; but of course, this is life's cruel story of youth.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/11/23
Full Review
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