IMDb > Cruel Story of Youth (1960) > Reviews & Ratings - IMDb

Reviews & Ratings for
 Cruel Story of Youth More at IMDbPro »Seishun zankoku monogatari (original title)

Filter: Hide Spoilers:
Index 10 reviews in total 

23 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
A film about adolescent sexuality years before its time, 12 February 2004
Author: craigwill

Oshima's film about adolescents in Tokyo was made in 1960 and is extraordinarly prescient: the picture he portrays of teenagers is far in advance of Swinging London and the Summer of Love in San Francisco. His teenage protagonists not only have sex together, but are involved in a sex-crime scam where the girl acts as a decoy for middle aged men to be blackmailed for trying to solicit her sexual services. The treatment of adolescent sexuality is far ahead of its time:Oshima gives us an accurate picture of teenage sexual activity that was unthinkable at the time. Brilliantly shot in cinemascope and exquisitely lit, the film is visually arresting. The sequence where the male lead eats an apple over his sleeping girlfriend's sleeping body is one of many highlights. A little known masterpiece by one of the masters of twentieth century Japanese cinema.

Was the above review useful to you?

17 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Best Movie You've Never Seen, 6 December 2006
9/10
Author: (sugrr1123) from United States

See Cruel Story of Youth. It is an amazing film. Oshima Nagisa is probably best known for his avant garde work- films like "In the Realm of the Senses" and "Diary of a Shinjuku Thief"- but his earlier work is more compelling, if less sensational. This film tells the story of Makoto and Kiyoshi, two youths who suffer from the social malaise typical of their generation. They express their frustration in violent and poetic ways, which makes up the substance of the film's narrative. But putting all that aside, it's beautifully filmed and by it's end, completely heartwrenching. The color contrast is almost unprecedented- bright reds and blues set against pitch blacks. At times it has the sensibility of a yakuza film- violence abounds and Oshima makes use of sharp pans typical of that genre, giving it a very cool, retro feel. At it's core it's a love story, but of a sort that modern audiences will probably never see in a contemporary film. It shows love as the cruelest thing imaginable, making it difficult to watch at times, but in the end, impossible to forget.

Was the above review useful to you?

7 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Credit to the director, 25 May 2008
10/10
Author: Irina Pismennaya from Tokyo

"Cruel story of youth" seems to me a hard movie to give any judgment about. Trying to watch at the events of the drama from the point of view of the time (historically), I see not more than a Japanese version of "lost generation" drama. The ideals of parents passed away in the recent war, the new aims were not created – is it not a universal generation crises of searching your own way in life? While watching the movie, I asked myself if it is necessary to search for any hidden message of the director… if there is one…

The characters and events are described in a very direct, comparable to the animation speed and simplicity way (that was one of the points which I could dare to compare with the "trash-movie" stylistic). There is a lot of "beating directly into the face" full of disguise scenes (for the year 1960 the movie is full of violence and sex – what I guess was pretty "fresh" and not known at that time). The message of the director was delivered in the right way, no doubt that the movie drew public attention – that is the other point which I appreciate in director's work.

Now to the heroes (or anti-heroes, as I think a lot of people would tell): the main heroes of the drama present the whole collection of sins and all kinds of misbehavior. The antipathy to them is growing with every their word and step. The two try to fight the way through to the future and… fail. There is no one around (false existence or practical non-existence of a good example neither in society nor in their own family) to give them the right answer on: what to do to be happy? As Kiyoshi says: "We only sell ourselves in order to go on living. No matter how I fight it, that's what the world is like." Isn't life disappointing?

Love and death are linked in quite an extravagant way in this movie, resulting in a kind of "romantic antiromantic". What is left at the end? A symptom of a lost generation's aimlessness and moral bankruptcy (and lost innocence)… No doubt, "Cruel story of youth" is a very expressive movie the main topic of which could get up-to-date anytime (as it is well known that times pass – men and problem stay the same).

Was the above review useful to you?

5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
A Cautionary Tale, 5 August 2007
8/10
Author: crossbow0106 from United States

This is a curious film, definitely of its time, but not from France. The two lovers Kyoschi and Makoto have a devil may care attitude about things. At times, you want to shake the female lead (Makoto) and tell her to be more responsible. Kyoschi is sometimes just this side of brutal to her, both physically and psychologically. The film reminds me a bit of "Rebel Without A Cause" and even "Breathless", which is more than likely intentional. For a Japanese film, it is fairly gritty. My only complaint is that most of the characters besides the two star crossed/unfortunately matched lovers are underwritten. I wonder if anyone thought at that time to show this film to youths in Japan, to let them know that falling in love is not always the true path to happiness. An interesting, fully watchable film.

Was the above review useful to you?

4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Two young delinquents start a relationship that will spell disaster for both of them., 7 July 2006
7/10
Author: plan2 from United States

This is an interesting story about how stupid and self-destructive people—young people in this case—can be. This movie was released in 1960, but look around and it's clear that the issues it brings up—although in a somewhat overly melodramatic way—continue to be relevant today, and probably always will be as long as human beings exist. The previous reviewer has the right to their negative opinion, but I think they missed the big picture, perhaps they are just too young to know any better.

Besides following a good storyline, it is also well-shot. The cinematography is crisp. And the overall nature of the photography gives the film a fantastic and hermetic quality. It's gritty, and obviously seeks to be realistic, but it has the feel of a fable or a morality tale.

Was the above review useful to you?

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
If you're interested in 1960's Japan...., 5 June 2009
7/10
Author: cteavin-1 from Japan

Not the best film for it's time; I've not seen anything else from this director, so I can't comment on that aspect of the film....

I had to remind myself several times while watching that this film is almost fifty years old. Elements of the story remind of today, especially the "scams" and the gritty aspect of teenage relationships and sexuality; at the same time I could never suspend my disbelief over the age of the actors -- they in no way resembled a high school girl or a college boy. The editing is a mess; I'm guessing that the director was attempting something artistic. The story, however, is very good. (Unfortunately the translation I watched mistranslated several scenes and so took the punch out from the delivery.)

I could recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see some of the grime of post-war Japan. But if you watch this film leave your modern sensibilities at home: Joan Collins said that she was rapped by the man that later became her husband and that seemingly topsy turvy attitude about sex and relationships is a large part of this film: the definitions were different, sex was novel on the big screen and peoples perspectives were not the same as today and I see no point in complaining about the gaps; I feel it's better to acknowledge them, think about how they might have been viewed and then look past them to the story the director was trying to tell.

Was the above review useful to you?

3 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
terrific beginning some lengths in the middle, 16 February 2000
8/10
Author: Martin Riexinger from Freiburg, Germany

Kiyoshi is a student with a completely immoral attitude towards women (and other things too). His young lover Makoto seeks adventure with him. Unlike her younger sister, a former left winger she doesn't bother about changing the society but she just wants fun, but the completely egotist attitude of her lover brings about ruin for both.

the beginning of the film which is ingenious and visually very inspiring is followed by a rather mediocre middle part, where their method of gaining money by luring middle aged men into a trap is described excessively. Nevertheless you don't get to know if the first scene of the film is already a part of that profession or a mere accident.

But now watch the film for yourself.

Was the above review useful to you?

8 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Technically well made, but overall pointless and unlikable, 7 June 2008
3/10
Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

I know that many consider this film to be a classic and my very low score will most likely trigger a lot of "not helpful" votes, but I just didn't like this film at all. I understand that the film is in many ways a Japanese film version of the important French film BREATHLESS, but like BREATHLESS, the leading characters are so unpleasant I had a hard time sticking with the film--though with THE CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH the characters a lot more unpleasant and slimy.

The girl is an idiot high schooler who slavishly follows after a college student who treats her like garbage. He rapes her twice at the beginning of the film and in return, she devotes herself to him!! The guy, in addition to being a rapist, is a violent user. The loves to fight and sleep around and does little to hide it from the girl. Considering that neither seem to ever go to class and don't have jobs, they earn money by setting up men to try to rape the girl--at which point the guy jumps out and beats up the men and takes their money. It sounds like a match made in heaven, right?! So why make the American title of the film "THE CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH"? What's cruel about the story--both characters choose to be evil and choose their fates. It isn't like they are somehow victims (though the film does try to paint it that way). Their lives are pointless and selfish. Rape, abortion, extortion, indifference--after a short time I found myself getting very tired of the whole thing and, oddly, when the film had it's supposed sad ending, I was thrilled! I say good riddance and bring me a film I can care about--not this nihilistic and nasty little film.

Was the above review useful to you?

11 out of 49 people found the following review useful:
Misanthropic, and dull, 23 November 2005
1/10
Author: Todd Mason

I got very little from this film, other than it furthered my impression of Oshima as a misanthrope with very little of substance to offer about the human condition he has so little feeling for, nor the people he apparently reviles. It is, indeed, a Cruel Story, as one iteration of the English title would have it, but it doesn't even have the cheap thrills offered by Oshima's best-known film in the US, usually referred to here as IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES, but does share a remarkably ugly cinematographic color scheme (this might be a function of the prints and transfers I've seen, but both films in my viewing have been heavily into a reddish wash), fitting well with the remarkably ugly spirit with which both were offered. Not too impressed with the performances, either.

Was the above review useful to you?

9 out of 68 people found the following review useful:
Did I miss something???, 28 March 2003
3/10
Author: Roy Teng from Netherlands

I watched this movie during an international film course at my university and I will not forgive them for making me watch this! Did I miss something because I thought this movie was just a complete waste of my time. You can't relate to any of the characters; the women are dumb and easy, the men dumb and ruthless. The beginning especially was terrible: a girl who almost gets raped is saved by a man who later rapes her himself.

I was like... huh??? What's the point in watching this for educational purposes at the university? Why not watch good old Japanese comedies instead (e.g. Juzo Itami's movies)? I was irritated that I wasted time with this movie. Advise:Just figure out what movies YOU like and stay away from this one!

Was the above review useful to you?

Add another review

Related Links

Plot summary Ratings Awards
External reviews Plot keywords Main details
Your user reviews Your vote history