I liked seeing a raw, edgy, uninhibited side of Japan, and director Nagisa Oshima's style which mirrored the French New Wave directors from this period whom he admired. I liked the nice cuts and shots he captured, the rock and jazz music in the soundtrack, and his unflinching look at the cynicism present in Japan following WWII. There are some who relate it to "Rebel Without a Cause", but I don't like the comparison, because "Cruel Story of Youth" is over-the-top in its darkness and nihilism, none of the characters are likable, and one doesn't get any sense of the 'tragic, misunderstood, disaffected youth' or feel empathy towards them. There's also not enough content which relates their delinquent behavior to their upbringing or the times which would allow us to see it as an indictment of society.
You could say all this darkness is because life in Japan after the war was far darker than America, and while there is some truth to that, the film's biggest problem is the cruelty towards women which pervades it. You'll see attempted rape, rape (twice), attempted forced prostitution, an extortion scheme that involves using a woman as bait in dangerous situations, using women young and old as sex objects without any feeling, and utter indifference to abortion from a surprise pregnancy. Cruel story, indeed. The lead female character is shockingly stupid. There are some characters in films who are just stupid, regardless of their sex, but this is part of a larger theme. The film is all about in-your-face rebellion in its content, frankness, and even style (which I ordinarily love) – and yet how sad is that Oshima perpetuates the (very traditional) theme of misogyny. It's the combination of this and the general unlikeability of the whole thing that tempers my review score to an average rating, for what is such a landmark film from a talented director.
