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IMDbPro

Blue Spring

Original title: Aoi haru
  • 20012001
  • 1h 23m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
4K
YOUR RATING
Blue Spring (2001)
Drama
A group of a run-down Tokyo high school students face the struggles of growing up, growing apart from their friends and worrying about their future, while living in a highly violent environm... Read allA group of a run-down Tokyo high school students face the struggles of growing up, growing apart from their friends and worrying about their future, while living in a highly violent environment.A group of a run-down Tokyo high school students face the struggles of growing up, growing apart from their friends and worrying about their future, while living in a highly violent environment.
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
4K
YOUR RATING
    • Toshiaki Toyoda
    • Toshiaki Toyoda
    • Taiyô Matsumoto(comic strip)
  • Stars
    • Ryûhei Matsuda
    • Hirofumi Arai
    • Sôsuke Takaoka
    • Toshiaki Toyoda
    • Toshiaki Toyoda
    • Taiyô Matsumoto(comic strip)
  • Stars
    • Ryûhei Matsuda
    • Hirofumi Arai
    • Sôsuke Takaoka
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 24User reviews
    • 35Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Photos11

    Blue Spring (2001)
    Blue Spring (2001)
    Hirofumi Arai in Blue Spring (2001)
    Ryûhei Matsuda and Hirofumi Arai in Blue Spring (2001)
    Ryûhei Matsuda and Hirofumi Arai in Blue Spring (2001)
    Hirofumi Arai in Blue Spring (2001)
    Ryûhei Matsuda, Sôsuke Takaoka, and Hirofumi Arai in Blue Spring (2001)
    Blue Spring (2001)
    Blue Spring (2001)
    Ryûhei Matsuda in Blue Spring (2001)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ryûhei Matsuda
    Ryûhei Matsuda
    • Kujo
    Hirofumi Arai
    Hirofumi Arai
    • Aoki
    Sôsuke Takaoka
    Sôsuke Takaoka
    • Yukio
    Yûsuke Ohshiba
    • Kimura
    Yûta Yamazaki
    • Ota
    Shûgo Oshinari
    • Yoshimura
    Takashi Tsukamoto
    Takashi Tsukamoto
    • Freshman in Baseball Club
    Eita Nagayama
    Eita Nagayama
    • Obake (Ghost)
    • (as Eita)
    Onimaru
    • Suzuki
    Kiyohiko Shibukawa
    • Leader of Rival School Gang
    • (as Kee)
    Kyôko Koizumi
    Kyôko Koizumi
    • Kiosk Woman
    Mame Yamada
    • Hanada-sensei
    Genta Dairaku
    • Guidance Counselor
    Erena
    • High-school girl
    Hiroyuki Kobayashi
    Nobuo Kyô
    Ichi Omiya
        • Toshiaki Toyoda
        • Toshiaki Toyoda
        • Taiyô Matsumoto(comic strip)
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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      Storyline

      Edit

      Did you know

      Edit
      • Quotes

        Kujo: People who know what they want... they scare me.

      • Connections
        Version of Revolver - Aoi haru (2003)
      • Soundtracks
        Drop
        Performed by Thee Michelle Gun Elephant

      User reviews24

      Review
      Review
      Featured review
      9/10
      Beautiful
      The closing night movie for the SF Indie Fest is a vaguely coming of age type drama, set entirely within the grounds of a Japanese boy's school. Here, the kids all run around in gangs, sleep in lectures and fight at break times. Every wall in the place is covered in graffiti. Ryuhei Matsuda (the effeminate guy from GOHATTO) stars as Kuja, a senior who becomes the school's official gang leader by winning at "The Clapping Game". This game involves the kids hanging from a railing on the edge of the school roof, letting go and seeing how many times they can clap their hands before their nerve fails and they grab back on.

      From here we follow the progress of his friends and enemies throughout a part of the school year, the challenges to his leadership and the pressure of the school system felt by everyone. There's a hell of a lot of violence goes on in the school, and we get the impression that life as a Japanese school boy is a difficult dangerous business.

      It's a pretty bleak and cheerless vision - between this and BATTLE ROYALE you'd be forgiven for thinking that the Japanese school system was on the point of explosion or collapse, with the youth as disaffected as they come. How close this is to reality I don't know, but the friend I saw it with tells me that the classroom scenes are pretty close to how it actually is.

      The cast all perform well - Ryuhei Matsuda has such a striking appearance that he doesn't really need to do anything to create an impression, and indeed he spends most of the movie being aloof and impenetrable. This contrasts with the energies and frustrations evident in the other characters, particulary his best friend Aoki.

      I enjoyed the movie a lot... good characters, and well filmed/scored, with interesting developments. It's based on a collection of autobiographical short stories from a manga artist, which shows a little bit in the episodic nature of the plot, but it's all weaved together well for the movie. Worth looking out for if you don't mind your high school movies nihilistic, violent and bleak.
      helpful•18
      5
      • simon_booth
      • Mar 17, 2002

      Details

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      • Release date
        • June 29, 2002 (Japan)
        • Japan
        • Official site (Japan)
        • Japanese
      • Also known as
      • Production companies
        • Filmmakers
        • Omega Micott Inc.
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Box office

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      See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

      Technical specs

      Edit
      • 1 hour 23 minutes
        • Color

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