Cover Art

Credits

Director:Takashi Miike Starring: Naoto Takenaka, Saki Takaoka, Yuki Nagata and Shonusuke Shofukutei Screenplay: Nakamura (based on a novel by Toshikazu Nakaba) Music: Kôji Endô Country: Japan AKA: Kishiwada shônen gurentai: Bôkyô

Set in 1969, the story is pretty much a tale of the passage of rites of young Riichi, as he passes from youth to adolescence. It charts his fortunes as he deals with the difficulties of school, rivalries with his peers (which continues in more brutal fashion in Innocent Blood) and coping with his somewhat dysfunctional family. Dispensing with the ultra-violence, which is commonly (and mistakenly) associated with Miike's work, it focuses more on the human drama and the difficulties of approaching adulthood. Set against the backdrop of the lunar landing, the film shows Riichi growing up against a backdrop of technological change and progress, and so there is a distinct reflection of old and new. This is a Japan that is facing a huge cultural shift, whilst Riichi faces huge changes in his own life.

Despite the characters being so odd and the presentation of Riichi's family as being so dysfunctional, everybody comes across as being rather likeable – and Riichi's imperfect father, although somewhat insensitive, is hard to hate, even though his behaviour is reprehensible at times. Miike regards this as his favourite film – it certainly seems to be his most personal work, with great care and attention given to character-building and meticulous period detail. The main problem is that it's really not all that interesting to watch and moves along at a snail's pace. It's nowhere near as entertaining as Innocent Blood and seems to get bogged down in itself early on in the film. That's not to say it's a bad film by any means, just that it's not very compelling viewing. I'm sure the supposed autobiographical book by Toshikazu (Riichi) Nakaba himself is a great read, but it doesn't translate well to the medium of film.