The Youth Killer (1976)
"Seishun no satsujin sha" (original title)

Director:

Kazuhiko Hasegawa

Writers:

Kenji Nakagami (novel), Tsutomu Tamura

Stars:

Yutaka Mizutani, Mieko Harada, Etsuko Ichihara

7 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Yutaka Mizutani	...	Saiki, Jun
Mieko Harada	...	Keiko
Etsuko Ichihara	...	Jun's mother
Ryôhei Uchida	...	Jun's father
Kazuko Shirakawa	...	Keiko's mother
Jun Etô	...	Miyata, Michio
Kaori Momoi	...	Ishikawa, Ikuko
Takeo Chii	...	Hidaka, Toru
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yûji Arikawa
Kai Atô
Go Hasegawa	...	Son at the beach
Kazuhiko Hasegawa	...	Father at the beach
Kôji Himuro
Haruo Kariya
Akio Kuwasaki

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

23 October 1976 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Young Murderer

Filming Locations:

Chiba, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Art Theatre Guild, Imamura Productions, Soeisha

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

User Reviews

Raw Power

Set against a background of the last unfocused protests of 60s and 70s Japanese radicalism, this is a raw and rather ragged take on the doomed young lovers motif (Thieves Like Us, Badlands) but where their American forebears take flight on the open road, here our anti-heroes are set in a frieze of emotional and physical inertia, spending much of their time in a roadside cafe.

Some great twilight photography, brilliant depictions of inhuman hinterlands (highway verges, the edges of an airport, blank vistas of ribbon development) and a faith in the central performances that borders on the indulgent but ultimately pays off in depicting the ferment of teenage desire and frustration.