Boy
Original title: Shônen
- 19691969
- 1h 37m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
A young boy reluctantly aids his swindling father in a threatening scam.A young boy reluctantly aids his swindling father in a threatening scam.A young boy reluctantly aids his swindling father in a threatening scam.
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writer
- Tsutomu Tamura(screenplay)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writer
- Tsutomu Tamura(screenplay)
- Stars
- Awards
- 4 wins
- Director
- Writer
- Tsutomu Tamura(screenplay)
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
A couple Takeo Omura and Takeko Kaniguchi travel across Japan with their two sons, the eldest, Toshio, who is biologically his but not hers. They are con artists, whose scam is for her to jump alongside moving vehicles feigning being hit and injured, while he, playing the outraged husband, negotiates with the worried driver for an unofficial cash settlement in return for not calling the police reporting the motorist's "guilt". She often does sustain minor injuries from the ruse. She believes that they will continue doing this work until they have enough money to settle down in one place, where he will get a legitimate job. However, he wants to continue the scam indefinitely as he, a veteran, claims that injuries he sustained during the war would prevent him from obtaining that legitimate work. When Toshio reaches age ten in 1966, they enlist him in the con, he now playing the accident victim, with Takeko now playing the concerned mother role. They even manufacture real bruises on Toshio to make the scam more convincing. Like his stepmother before him, Toshio increasingly gets real injuries doing this work. This work takes its toll on their already dysfunctional family, that dysfunction which includes lies, and physical and emotional abuse by both Takeko but most specifically Takeo. That increasing dysfunction is also due to the fact that Takeko learns that she's pregnant again. She wants to keep the baby if only because it will force them to settle down, while he wants her to abort the pregnancy. Toshio has no true perspective of love or life, he only knowing that they need money to live, this work which is the only way he knows to obtain money. He does begin to get a sense that what they are doing is wrong when he witnesses a boy only slightly older than him being extorted for money from older bullies. As an emotional escape, Toshio often thinks about running away, which may not be difficult as his parents allow him free reign while they deal with their own priorities. Toshio also immerses him and his younger brother in a fantasy world where he is an alien from the Andromeda nebula come to Earth to kill all the evildoers of the world. —Huggo
- Genre
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaThe role of the boy was cast by searching in Tokyo children's homes, eventually finding the young orphan Tetsuo Abe. Abe's own life resembled the fractured childhood of the character he was to play, and he was allowed to join the production with the children's home's permission. After the film's release, Abe was put up for adoption but refused it and chose to stay at the children's home's. He would never act again.
- GoofsWhile the boy is wandering through a village it is night time, at the ocean inlet it's dawn, but the following scenes are at night time again.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Man Who Left His Soul on Film (1984)
Top review
a sample of oshima's greatness
'Boy' is, below the surface, a scathing commentary on post-war Japan. The country has been consumed by greed and has taken Western ideals to its hilt. The parents exploiting their son for money strikes into the heart a family that is so far away from the respect and courtesy of old Japanese values.
As a contradiction, Oshima rejects the classical repertoire of Ozu or Mizoguchi and creates a radical language much more to his own invention. The soundtrack unsettles, the camera movement is slow and anxious ridden and the characters push against any sort of likability. The fact that a small boy is the most morally conscious out of a cast of adult characters is especially telling. Also used are still images and colour filters, almost a surefire way to portray the inner thoughts of a young boy who can't adequately express himself. The widescreen filming allows for much detail in the scenes, a rush of intricacies flood each shot. Exquisite to look at but also plenty to think about.
Oshima is usually volatile in his ideas and this leads him to be a not very consistent filmmaker but when his ideas align themselves like this, there are very few who could direct better.
As a contradiction, Oshima rejects the classical repertoire of Ozu or Mizoguchi and creates a radical language much more to his own invention. The soundtrack unsettles, the camera movement is slow and anxious ridden and the characters push against any sort of likability. The fact that a small boy is the most morally conscious out of a cast of adult characters is especially telling. Also used are still images and colour filters, almost a surefire way to portray the inner thoughts of a young boy who can't adequately express himself. The widescreen filming allows for much detail in the scenes, a rush of intricacies flood each shot. Exquisite to look at but also plenty to think about.
Oshima is usually volatile in his ideas and this leads him to be a not very consistent filmmaker but when his ideas align themselves like this, there are very few who could direct better.
helpful•53
- noonward
- Jan 6, 2014
Details
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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