Review by Gary Tooze

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The Film:

Nagisa Oshima's groundbreaking film opens with young, attractive Mako and her friend hitching a ride from an old man. After her friend leaves, the man tries to rape her, and she is saved only by the handsome Kiyoshi. Later, against the background of the tumultuous 1960 U.S./Japan Security Treaty demonstrations, Kiyoshi and Mako walk along a grungy seaside lumberyard while talking about sex. He attempts to kiss her, she slaps him, and he throws her in the water. She cries out that she can't swim. When she continues to refuse his advances, he steps on her fingers as she clings to a log. Kiyoshi then saves Mako from a trio of seedy pimps looking to impress her into working for them, but after rescuing her, he forces himself on her again. With this unlikely beginning, Kiyoshi and Mako form a passionate though doomed romance. Soon she stops going to school and moves into his flea-ridden dive of an apartment. Utterly disillusioned with all trappings of societal convention, the two get cash by blackmailing businessmen and by shaking down Kiyoshi's middle-aged sugarmama. Tension with this Bonnie and Clyde duo builds after Mako has an abortion in a run down clinic, performed by an alcoholic doctor.

Excerpt fromTimeOut located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Cruel Story of Youth is pretty sweet looking on Blu-ray from The Masters of Cinema group in the UK. The image quality balances nicely between bright, refreshing primary colors and the usual greenish overhang we have seen on countless older Japanese film. It is advertised as being taken from the '2014 4K Shochiku restoration'. Like many films from that country the visuals are very thick and heavy. This looks superb in-motion. The transfer is dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate. It has no gloss nor is it pristinely sharp but shows some occasional depth, not a hint of noise, and black levels are deep. I would guess the 2.39:1 aspect ratio is an impressive 1080P presentation looking better than I imagined. This is very pleasing.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The audio is transferred via a linear PCM 1.0 channel track at 1152 kbps in the original Japanese. The film's music, by Riichirô Manabe, works very well with the pace, advancing moods, tension, conflicts and romance. Dialogue is clean and even. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

Extras :

Masters of Cinema provide and, almost hour-long, video interview with film critic Tony Rayns discussing just about everything from the film's history, director, performers etc. He is at his usual educational level and a very worthy addition. There is also a weak-ish original theatrical trailer and the dual-format package contains a second disc DVD of the feature and MoC's usual, valuable, 36-page booklet containing an essay, interview material, and rare archival imagery.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Cruel Story of Youth is a very good film - and perhaps less-eclectic than some may expect from Ôshima. There are many social and political themes surrounding post-war Japan and from that standpoint alone it is fascinating. The director knows how to set pace and uses the frame well. There are hints of rebellious youth and sexual incongruity that are also found in the director's later work. What a fabulous choice for MoC to release on Blu-ray. I had never seen it before (although it played at TIFF in 2014) - and it looks stellar in the 1080P presentation. Another gorgeous package that we can very strongly recommend! 

Gary Tooze

August 13th, 2015