Aoi haru (2001)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Toshiaki Toyoda

Writers:

Toshiaki Toyoda (written by) and
Taiyo Matsumoto (comic strip)

Release Date:

29 June 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

No regrets for my youth

Plot Keywords:

Manga

Cast

Ryuhei Matsuda	...	Kujo
Hirofumi Arai	...	Aoki
Sosuke Takaoka	...	Yukio
Yusuke Oshiba	...	Kimura
Yuta Yamazaki	...	Ota
Shûgo Oshinari	...	Yoshimura
Takashi Tsukamoto	...	Freshman in Baseball Club
Eita	...	Obake (Ghost)
Onimaru	...	Suzuki
Kiyohiko Shibukawa	...	Leader of Rival School Gang (as Kee)
Kyôko Koizumi	...	Kiosk Woman
Mame Yamada	...	Hanada-sensei
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erena	...	High-school girl
Nobuo Kyô

Also Known As:

Blue Spring (International: English title)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Company:

Omega Micott Inc.

Quotes:

Kimura: No regrets for my youth.

Movie Connections:

Version of Revolver - Aoi haru (2003)

Soundtrack:

Black Limousine

I liked this movie. Donno why.

I think it captured the high school feeling of despair better than any other movie. The high school movies I am used to usually transform everything into a battle between characters where in the end the good guy wins. Or maybe he loses. But what if you don't want a battle? What if you just don't know what to do or you just don't care?

In Aoi Haru a deadly game decides who the leader of the school will be. A lonely quiet guy wins the game, but he does it only because he doesn't care enough to fear for his life. He actually does it for the game, not for the leadership. That annoys the hell out of his friend, ex boss himself, who can't understand someone that does not want to abuse his power. In the end their friendship is brutally ended.

There are some interesting metaphors in there, like the flowers that the boys are trying to grow, even if just one of them lives to see them blossom. It is also interesting that it is a boys only high school, maybe that's the norm in Japan, I don't know.

There is also in the movie the hidden message that neglect and inaction can do more damage than acting badly. I am talking here about the teachers in the film, that are just dictating machines with no will to educate or care. I mean, doctors can be accused of malpraxis. Lawyers, too. Yet teachers, who are supposed to create social beings from adolescents, are not held responsible for their mistakes.

Enough babble. This is a good film, maybe a bit long, but it does need almost every scene. The soundtrack is also very nice and fits the plot. It is worth watching.