Youth Of The Beast

Youth of the Beast (Yaju No Seishun) (1963)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Seijun Suzuki

Starring: Jo Shishido, Misako Watanabe, Tamio Kawaji, Minako Katsuki, Daisaburo Hirata

From: Nikkatsu

In April and July of this year I saw a quartet of early Seijun Suzuki pictures; I dug all three of them even if they weren't as boldly iconoclastic as his most famous work. While 2020 has been miserable for me for reasons unrelated to the pandemic, there's no real excuse for me putting off the task of checking out another one of his movies. At least this is one of his most famous and most highly regarded. It is a Yojimbo type story where Jo Shishido gets involved with a pair of Yakuza gangs, but here it's not just about the plot.

The movie's main highlight is not the story, although it was quite enjoyable with all its twists & turns. Rather, it was the assured confidence Suzuki had in presenting a distinctive style. Whether it be the jazzy score, the interesting ways that many scenes are framed (don't be surprised to see major characters in the background rather than the foreground), all the usages of color or something incidental happening in the background as something happens in the office in the foreground... it was a joy seeing Youth of the Beast. To elaborate on the last point, the office settings were in a nightclub-as a fan dance happened in the background-and a movie theatre, as a picture was playing.

Speaking of distinctive, Jo Shishido's appearance... at least he delivered a quality performance. I could prattle on much further about such topics as the usage of glass, but this sort of movie it is most ideal to go in rather cold and instead enjoy the surprises-along with all the violence-unfurl in front of you. Hopefully it won't be many months before I see some more of Suzuki's most famous works.