Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Cruel Story of Youth Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 10, 2015

Winner of Blue Ribbon Award for Best Director, Nagisa Oshima's "Cruel Story of Youth" a.k.a. "Naked Youth" (1960) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and filmed video introduction by writer and film historian Tony Rayns. The release also arrives with a 36-page illustrated booklet containing an essay, interview material, and rare archival imagery. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"It reminds me of that time on the boat. You were horrible at first. You'd get angry with me for all sorts of reasons. But once we had done our set-up, you were very sweet to me."

Somewhere in the city, young and beautiful Mako (Miyuki Kuwano, Late Autumn) is picked up by an older man determined to have a good time. When later on he refuses to take her home and attempts to force himself on her, she is saved by Kiyoshi (Yusuke Kawazu, Red Angel), a bored student. The two youngsters begin seeing each other, but it quickly becomes obvious that Kiyoshi can be far more aggressive than Mako’s former companion.

When Kiyoshi insults a few pimps and is ordered by their powerful boss to pay them a hefty sum of money, he convinces Mako that together they could make a small fortune by cheating older men with deep pockets. Mako would make them believe that she is naive and easy and when they try to make love to her Kiyoshi would suddenly appear and save her. To avoid embarrassment, the men will have to part ways with the money they are carrying in their wallets.

For a while the plan works exactly as described by Kiyoshi, but then the two lovers become frustrated with each other. Kiyoshi begins spending time with an older woman, while Mako allows strangers to entertain her. Their relationship becomes even more complicated when Mako discovers that she is pregnant and Kiyoshi is once again confronted by the pimps.

Cruel Story of Youth is a very appropriate title for this film. One’s initial impression is that it would tell a story about two young people whose passion for freedom and love will present them with various opportunities to experience the very best of what life has to offer. But after Kiyoshi forces Mako to make love to him and they become partners in crime it is difficult not to feel like some of the older men that go out on a date with the girl and discover that she isn’t as innocent as she looks -- one is stunned, even made completely speechless by the harsh contrasts that emerge. (The film undoubtedly has some of the most beautifully lensed disturbing scenes).

The story is set in a busy city during the early 1960s, shortly after the ratification of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, which ensured that the United States would continue to play an important role in Japan’s post-war transformation. At the time many angry young people were on the streets, rebelling against the current status quo in their country. But Mako and Kiyoshi are not amongst them. They are also rebels, but their anger is directed at their families and the type of life they are expected to settle for.

This anger is what brings the youngsters together and forces them to choose roles for each other that get them in trouble. Then gradually, while playing their roles, their reality evolves dramatically and they suddenly discover that they have become the people they pretended to be. The shock quickly crushes them and they never regain their freedom.

The social commentary is fairly basic, but when placed in the proper historical context it actually reveals plenty about the unusual ways -- at least by Western standards -- in which young Japanese men and women treated each other. The balance of power between the two sexes and especially the logic with which various shocking acts are justified can be fascinating to analyze. The film also has a very dark and elusive sense of humor that can frequently force one in a guessing mode as the funny could be flat-out disturbing.

Cruel Story of Youth Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Nagisa Oshima's Cruel Story of Youth arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release is sourced from a new 4K restoration completed at Shochiku in Japan. The color correction was performed by cinematographers Takashi Kawamata (Black Rain) and Masashi Chicamori (About Her Brother).

The bulk of the outdoor footage is quite wonderful. During sequences where there is an abundance of natural light -- see the sequence in the beginning of the film where Kiyoshi forces Mako to make love to him -- detail and clarity are excellent. During some of darker indoor footage, however, depth is somewhat inconsistent. At times it appears that the brightness levels are set a bit too low and as a result there are some light crushing effects (see screencaptures #6 and 7). Colors are stable and lush, but there are select sequences where the browns become quite overwhelming (see screencapture #13). There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Overall image stability is very good. Finally, there are no large debris, cuts, scratches, or damage marks to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Cruel Story of Youth Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Japanese LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The film does not have an impressive sound design, but the music is effectively used to enhance the unique atmosphere in select sequences. Balance is very good -- it is very easy to tell that the audio has been fully restored -- while fluidity is excellent. The dialog is crisp, stables, clean, and easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in our review.

Cruel Story of Youth Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Cruel Story of Youth. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (2 min).

• Tony Rayns - an outstanding filmed introduction to Cruel Story of Youth and Nagisa Oshima's body of work by writer and film historian Tony Rayns. In English, not subtitled. (56 min).

• Booklet - 36-page illustrated booklet containing an essay, interview material, and rare archival imagery.

Cruel Story of Youth Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nagisa Oshima's second feature film, Cruel Story of Youth, mixes the unbridled energy of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless and the anarchic anger of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. It works best as a time capsule that offers a glimpse at a country that has struggled to find its identity and in the process created a huge gap between two very different post-war generations. Eureka Entertainment's release features a wonderful new introduction to the film by writer and film historian Tony Rayns. RECOMMENDED.