The Born Fighter (1966)
"Kenka erejî" (original title)

In Okayama in the mid-1930s, Kiroku attends high school and boards with a Catholic family whose daughter, Michiko, captures his heart. He must, however, hide his ardor and other aspects of ... See full summary »

Director:

Seijun Suzuki

Writers:

Kaneto Shindô, Takashi Suzuki (novel),

Stars:

Hideki Takahashi, Yûsuke Kawazu, Junko Asano

Cast

Credited cast:
Hideki Takahashi	...	Kiroku Nanbu
Yûsuke Kawazu	...	Suppon "Turtle"
Junko Asano	...	Michiko
Takeshi Katô
Isao Tamagawa	...	Principal
Kayo Matsuo
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mitsuo Kataoka	...	Takuan
Hiroshi Midorikawa	...	Ikki Kita
Chikako Miyagi	...	Yoshino Nanbu
Keisuke Noro	...	Kaneda
Seijirô Onda	...	Kiroku's Father
Asao Sano

Storyline

In Okayama in the mid-1930s, Kiroku attends high school and boards with a Catholic family whose daughter, Michiko, captures his heart. He must, however, hide his ardor and other aspects of his emerging sexuality, focusing his energy on a gang he joins, breaking school rules, and getting into scuffles (he tells her, "Oh, Michiko, I don't masturbate, I fight"). He comes under the influence of a young tough nicknamed Terrapin, and together they lead fights against rival gangs. Gradually, Kiroku and Terrapin align themselves with the right-wing Kita Ikki, and Kiroku becomes a stand-in for the attitudes of Japanese youth who embraced the imperialism leading to World War II.

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Plot Keywords:

school | delinquent | political satire | karate | adult humor | 

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

9 November 1966 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Fighting Elegy

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nikkatsu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in 100 Years of Japanese Cinema (1995)

User Reviews

FIGHTING ELEGY (Seijun Suzuki, 1966) ***

This was only my fourth Seijun Suzuki film - after TOKYO DRIFTER (1966), BRANDED TO KILL (1967) and PISTOL OPERA (2001) - and it's a typically energetic outing, with strong doses of comedy augmenting the character study of a young man who can only express himself adequately through violence and how he is forced to take stock of his life after falling in love with a cultured young girl. Drawing obvious parallels to FIGHT CLUB (1999), the film's fight scenes are quite well done but, even more interestingly, it looks forward to the struggle between religious faith and a violent environment that would surface in later films, primarily the work of Martin Scorsese (the script of FIGHTING ELEGY was penned by Kaneto Shindo, director of THE NAKED ISLAND [1960] and ONIBABA [1964]!). However, the film runs out of steam towards the end by taking an unexpectedly serious (and propagandist) turn which doesn't sit comfortably with the anarchy that had gone on before!