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Youth of the Beast - Criterion Collection Director: Seijun Suzuki Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 92 minutes Studio: Criterion Collection Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-01-11 Buy from Amazon |
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From Amazon.com Seijun Suzuki's delirious take on pulp-gangster films blows the lid off the genre with mad energy and stylistic excess, twisting a cliché-riddled revenge plot lifted from Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (which also inspired Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars) into a wild yakuza explosion. The somber black-and-white opening with a single color element--a pink flower lying on the floor--explodes into bright color, blaring music, and random violence. Chipmunk-cheeked Suzuki regular Jo Shishido hides behind dark glasses as the brutal thug Jo, who auditions for the Nomota mob boss by beating up underlings in his own nightclub (we watch the spectacle from behind soundproof glass while a go-go dancer shimmies in the foreground). Quickly establishing himself as the outfit's most ruthless debt collector and enforcer, he visits a rival gang (headquartered in a loft overlooking a movie house) and before long is playing the two against one another. The tangled plot also involves the Nomota honcho's gay brother, a scheme against his sixth wife, and the mysterious Takeshita School of Knitting, all set at a barreling pace and spiced with jagged narrative leaps, avant-garde riffs, and glowing colorscapes that would make Douglas Sirk jealous. In one bizarre scene, a raging wind whips an amber-hued desert into a surreal dust storm just outside the picture window of the Nomota boss's living room window as he blithely flogs his mistress. Suzuki's cinematic madness finds its culmination in Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter. --Sean Axmaker From Description When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence. Youth of the Beast was a breakthrough for director Seijun Suzuki, introducing the flamboyant colors, hallucinatory images, and striking compositions that would become his trademark. The Criterion Collection proudly presents the film that revitalized the yakuza genre and helped define the inimitable style of a legendary cinematic renegade. |
 "Stylish and Beautifully Framed Yakuza Tale - A True Seijun"Seijun Suzuki's films show stylish framing of each scene that brings something unique to the audience each time he calls action. Much of his success might be grounded in the many films he made at the beginning of his career. These films were made quickly and on a rather modest budget, which provided him with several opportunities to fine tune his directorial skills. In Youth of the Best the audience can see cool framing of scenes in a way that Quentin Tarantino did in Pulp Fiction in the 1990s and in a similar way that the contemporary director Takeshi Miike does in his films. This suggests that Seijun was not only before his time, but that his bravery as a director brings out the cinematic brilliance in him. The film opens in black and white with a large crowd that has gathered in curiosity outside a small hotel. A man is found dead with a dead woman on top of him in one of the hotel's tiny rooms. The police are investigating the scene while one police detective is reading out loud what seems to be a suicide note. Consequently, the police detective voices the obvious nature of the deadly incident that has taken place in the room hours earlier while another police officer comments on how lucky the dead man must have been to have had a loving mistress such as the dead woman on the floor. Further investigation of the room reveals the dead man's line of work, as he used to be a police detective. After this short opening, the film turns into a colored cinematic experience, as it makes a short leap into the future. Initially, it seems a little confusing where the story is going, as the audience is allowed to follow a thug trying to enter the world of yakuza, the Japanese mafia. Nonetheless, a patient audience will be rewarded, as the story will help reveal the identity of this gangster, Joji "Jo" Mizuno (Joe Shishido). By raising some havoc in the Nomoto Enterprises turf Jo succeeds in getting their attention, as he quickly climbs the ladder of criminal success. He is offered a lucrative position in the Nomoto organization, as he is obliged to perform extortion for the organization in another gang's turf to show his loyalty. Eventually, the audience is introduced to Jo's true identity, as he has been released from jail and wants to repay a debt he has to the police detective that was found dead in the apparent double suicide at the beginning of the film. The film turns into an intricate cat and mouse game between Jo and the mobsters, as he attempts to find the true killers of the dead police detective. However, it is not as easy as Jo anticipated, as he finds himself in a quandary while encouraging gang war in his approach to find the killer. Seijun's gangster tale depicts a Japanese film noir with some possible influence by Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961). Nonetheless, Seijun makes sure that it is not a rip-off of another film, which is evident as the story is told. The criminal and corrupt atmosphere in the film is elevated through scenes from backrooms and soundproofed rooms. Through these rooms the mise-en-scene brings wall-to-wall two-way mirrors, exotic dancers, and film clips on the back of theater screens that should help evoke additional emotional impact of the situations on the audience. This displays Seijun's personal interest in film, but also intentional contemplation by him. Maybe he wanted the audience to actually think more about the moment than just to merely enjoy the ride through the story. One notion that has been suggested is that the audience should reflect on their own folly while viewing Seijun's films. This notion is increasingly interesting while contemplating Suzuki's heavy use of sadism, violence, and sexual symbolism in the film. In some aspects, this is very similar to what one can see in Ichi the Killer (2001) by Takeshi Miike, but Miike brings the violence to the next level by visually illustrating what Seijun only suggested. In any case, there is something more in each scene than what meets the eye, which leaves much for the audience to ponder. "excellent Japanese crime drama"This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film "Youth of the Beast" known in Japan as "Yaju no seishun" is an interesting and well made film about the Yakuza, an organized crime gang in Japan that is known as the Japanese Mafia. In this film, a man becomes a doubledealer between two crime bosses in an attempt to kindle their hatred of each other. The film also has a very impressive musical score that is reminiscent of the batman TV series of the 1960's Unfortunately, the DVD has very few special features. in addition to the theatrical trailer, there are interviews with director Seijun Suzuki and lead actor, Jo Shishido. Fans of Japanese crime films will love this.  "Youth of the Beast - Suzuki classic"This is a great film, similar to "Branded to Kill" and "Tokyo Drifter" in many respects. The story is more comprehensible and thus less confusing than the other two, though it still displays Suzuki's characteristic directorial style. The story is very compelling and entertaining, a sort of Suzuki take on Kurosawa's Yojimbo, focusing on two warring yakuza gangs rather than two warring samurai clans. It definitely ranks up there with Suzuki's best films. If you liked either "Branded to Kill" or "Tokyo Drifter," definitely check this one out. The transfer on this Criterion Collection has been cleaned up significantly and the sound quality is very nice. My only complaint is the lack of special features. Besides a trailer, there is an interview with Suzuki as well as an interview with actor Jo Shishido. However, both of these interviews are very short, especially the Suzuki one. The Jo Shishido interview was interesting just to see what he looks like much older and how plastic surgery has effected his appearance. Despite the lack of notable features, this is still a must have DVD for the film alone. Highly Recommended. "Knock-out 60's crime thriller!"This is one of the best Japanese crime films of the 1960's, to have seen release in the United States! It is also, arguably, one of the best films by the amazing "outlaw" director, Suzuki Seijun. This was Suzuki-sensei's "breakthrough" film; in as much as it was the first film where he truly let his flamboyant, dizzying, artistic sense come forward. Full of intense, innovative, eye-popping visuals, the film never loses its solid, pulp fiction narrative flow. This is thanks, in part, to a great script based on the novel by Japanese "hard-boiled" master, Oyabu Haruhiko. A great story (though somewhat typical in the Japanese "gangster" tradition), brilliant direction, and wonderful performances (especially by the always great, Shishido Jo)-- all help to make this an outstanding example of the Japanese thriller! "of Razor and Fingernails"Opening on a scene where a double suicide has taken place, the beginning of Youth of the Beast is filmed in black and white, but with the introduction of the violent, raucous Mizuno Joji, Shishido Joe, the film becomes emblazoned with pastel colors! Well, maybe not, but Youth of the Beast is one of Nikkatsu's earliest and Suzuki's first color films. Displaying color usage that would please Thomas Wolfe, Youth of the Beast takes on the stereotype of the yakuza being noble outlaws who fight against the system to preserve traditional Japanese culture. The yakuza in this film resemble more the modern mold: drug dealers, pimps, and extortionists. It is amidst this crowd that Jo tries to establish himself. Beating up random people, harassing waiters, hiring the services of several bargirls, and then saying that he does not have the money to pay, Jo at first is accosted by members of the Nomoto family, but because he is able to impress them with his considerable fighting skills, he is asked to join the gang. With it bespectacled, cat-loving, knife-chunking boss, the Nomoto family makes a chunk of its money by extorting local business owners. Employing such tactics as setting people's heads on fire by using a can of hairspray as a blowtorch, Jo quickly establishes himself as someone not to be messed with and it seems that the Nomoto family has within its ranks a strong guy to further their cause. However, is this man to be trusted? Behind Nomoto's back, Jo also mingles with the Sanko gang, Nomoto's chief rival. Stating that he is only doing it for the money, Jo gives a number of Nomoto's secrets to the Sanko boss. However, is Jo truly in it solely for the money? Visiting the wife of the detective whose body, along with his lover's, was discovered in the opening scene and avoiding other's at the service, it seems that Jo has something to hide... With the recent releases of four classic Suzuki films, Gate of Flesh, Story of a Prostitute, and Fighting Elegy being the other three, Suzuki fans have had a number of good films in which they can sink their teeth into. One of four films Suzuki directed in 1963, Youth of the Beast displays a number of elements that would become familiar aspects of his later films, such as the creative use of color and surreal backgrounds. Also, while primarily a serious film, Youth of the Beast has a comic element as well and, of course, Shishodo Joe is awesome! |
