Youth of the Beast (1963)

A violent thug plays opposing yakuza bosses against each other.

Director:

Seijun Suzuki

Writers:

Ichirô Ikeda, Tadaaki Yamazaki

Stars:

Jô Shishido, Misako Watanabe, Tamio Kawaji

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jô Shishido	...	Jôji 'Jo' Mizuno (as Joe Shishido)
Misako Watanabe	...	Kumiko Takeshita
Tamio Kawaji	...	Hideo Nomoto (as Tamio Kawachi)
Minako Katsuki	...	Sawako Miura
Daisaburô Hirata	...	Shibata
Eiji Gô	...	Shigeru Takechi
Kôichi Uenoyama	...	Masao Hisano
Akiji Kobayashi	...	Tatsuo Nomoto
Yûzô Kiura	...	Takeo Minegishi
Naomi Hoshi	...	Keiko
Hiroshi Kôno	...	Seizô Honma
Eimei Esumi	...	Gorô Minami
Shuntarô Tamamura	...	Shôichi Maeda
Mizuho Suzuki	...	Detective Hirokawa
Zenji Yamada	...	Fujita

Storyline

Joe Shishido plays a tough guy with a secret agenda. His violent behavior comes to the attention of a yakuza boss who immediately recruits him. He soon tries to make a deal with a rival gang a starts a gang war. His real motivations are gradually revealed as we find out how this all ties in with the murder of a policeman shown at the beginning of the film.

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Plot Keywords:

ex cop | gang war | police officer | doublecross | drugs | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Mystery

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

21 April 1963 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Brute

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nikkatsu Film Company,Nikkatsu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The mixture of pop-art, jazz, and colorful pent-up suits as seen in this movie are what inspired the animation direction of Lupin the Third.

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Connections

References Ame no naka ni kiete (1963)

User Reviews

Superior example of 1960's crime cinema!

"Yaju no Seishun" ("Youth of the Beast") is, without doubt, one of the greatest Japanese films of the 1960's. It is also, arguably, the best film from the amazing director, Suzuki Seijun. This was Suzuki-sensei's "breakthrough" film; in as much as it was the first film where he truly let his flamboyant, dizzying, artistic sense come forward. Full of intense, innovative, eye-popping visuals, the film never loses its solid narrative flow; thanks, in part, to a great script based on the novel by Hard-Boiled master, Oyabu Haruhiko. What more could one ask for? A great story, brilliant direction, and outstanding performances (especially by Shishido Jo). This is a superior example of the Japanese thriller--and, for that matter, crime cinema of the 1960's in general!