Naked Youth (1960)

A harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitch-hiking to rob middle-class men.

Director:

Nagisa Ôshima

Writer:

Nagisa Ôshima (screenplay)

Stars:

Miyuki Kuwano, Yûsuke Kawazu, Yoshiko Kuga

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Miyuki Kuwano	...	Makoto
Yûsuke Kawazu	...	Kiyoshi
Yoshiko Kuga	...	Yuki, Makoto's elder
Fumio Watanabe	...	Akimoto, the doctor
Shinji Tanaka	...	Yoshimi Ito, student
Shinjiro Matsuzaki	...	Terada
Toshiko Kobayashi	...	Teruko
Jun Hamamura	...	Masahiro, Makoto's
Shinko Ujiie	...	Masae Sakaguchi
Aki Morishima	...	Yoko Ishikawa
Yuki Tominaga	...	Toshiko Nishioka
Kei Satô	...	Akira Matsuko
Hiroshi Nihon'yanagi	...	Keizo Horio
Asao Sano	...	Inspector
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yôko Aoba

Storyline

Kiyoshi is a brooding young man who treats women solely as objects. Makoto is a young woman who is just reaching her sexual awakening. She and her friends accept car rides from middle aged men, although they state it is nothing more than fun with no intention of leading those men on. Kiyoshi and Makoto meet when he saves her from one of those middle aged men who tries to take advantage of her. Despite treating each other abusively, they start a relationship with each other which leads to what they call love, but feels more like an emotional dependence on each other to rebel against traditional society. Each with no money, they start to extort money from these middle aged men who she leads on. This act is only one demonstration of the only power they feel they have, namely sex, which they use against others as well as against each other in their doomed relationship.

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Plot Keywords:

yakuza | society | japanese new wave | japan | tokyo japan | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The adult subject matter was too much for the BBFC who rejected the film for a UK cinema certificate in 1960. It was finally passed uncut with a 15 certificate in 2008.

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Connections

Referenced in My Voyage to Italy (1999)

User Reviews

terrific beginning some lengths in the middle

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.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

9 July 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Story of the Cruelties of Youth

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,496

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shochiku

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1