The Warped Ones (1960)

A juvenile delinquent gets out of the pen and causes reckless mayhem, mostly directed at the girlfriend of the journalist who helped send him up.

Director:

Koreyoshi Kurahara

Writer:

Nobuo Yamada

Stars:

Tamio Kawaji, Yuko Chiyo, Eiji Gô

Cast

Cast overview:
Tamio Kawaji	...	Akira
Yuko Chiyo	...	Yuki
Eiji Gô	...	Masaru
Hiroyuki Nagato	...	Kashiwagi
Noriko Matsumoto	...	Fumiko
Kôjirô Kusanagi	...	Shinji Kumaki
Chico Lourant	...	Gill (as Chico Roland)
Chigusa Takayama	...	Yuki's mother
Reiko Arai	...	Neighbor
Yôko Kosono	...	Woman in atelier
Shôki Fukae

Storyline

A juvenile delinquent gets out of the pen and immediately embarks on a rampage of untethered anger, most of it directed at the girlfriend of the journalist who helped send him up. The Warped Ones sounded a lost generation's cry for help and was one of the films that kicked off Japan's cinematic sixties with a bang.

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Plot Keywords:

yakuza | striptease | street walker | fight | beach | 

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Taglines:

They Do Every-thing!

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Genres:

Action | Crime

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

3 September 1960 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Weird Love Makers

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nikkatsu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Fear, Panic & Censorship (2000)

User Reviews

Not enjoyable, but interesting film from Japan in 1960

If someone tells you that the youth of yesterday, were so much better behaved, have them see this film from Japan in 1960.

The film has been compared to Breathless by Godard. The one difference though I would say is in its protagonist. In Breathless, Jean Paul Belmondo's character was kind of cool, and I could see perhaps young people wanting to be like him. The protagonist if any think does not have these qualities. He comes across as crazy, almost psychotic, and a real loser. In many ways his character is more real than Belmondo's. I am not sure, but I think the film might be taking place in Tokyo, but the Japanese city we are presented with is nothing like the Paris of Breathless. It is ugly, you can almost feel the heat, and you wonder how it must even smell.

Like this directors later film, 'Black Sun' He also seems to be criticizing the use of music in the way it might block people from reality. Their is a scene in a bar, where jazz music our protagonist enjoys listening to, when the lead female protagonist, who had been raped by him, stops the music from playing, and he almost goes crazy It results him driving to the ocean with his black friend, (Chico Rolands from Black Sun), and go swimming. It is also a criticism of modern art, and those who supposedly practice it, or admire it. Though at the same time, I wonder the way the director films this movie, especially the stolen auto sequence at the beginning, if this film might be artsy at times in itself, and not know it.

At the same time, hovering over this film, are Westerners, the men who take the women from the Japanese to have for exchange for money. This film I guess is before the big economic boom in Japan, and shows the contempt that Japanese perhaps felt towards the West, especially the US. Their is a line that our protagonist says regarding Jazz, 'the blacks invented it, the whites stole it, and now we have it. We are worse than them.

Chico Roland as Gill is perhaps the one foreigner this film respects. Being black, it is ironic as Japan has been accused of being racist towards blacks, which was somewhat demonstrated in Black Sun. I would like to learn more about Chico Rolands, who he is, and how he began working in Japan. It is regrettable that Criterion on their Eclipse series, didn't supply audio commentaries which might shed some light. Even here on IMDb, their is no info where and when he was born or if he died. I do wish his character was somewhat expanded in the film, and we would know who this character is.

The ending is interesting. I am for a woman's right to choose, but the films ending is the only one I think of that can come close to making an anti-abortion statement, as our protagonist looks up at the sky ceiling of the hospital, as if looking up to god.