Youth of the BeastYouth of the Beast possesses neither "youth" nor "beast" in the plot of the film, but Seijun Suzuki's fast and furious yakuza film features guns, girls, explosions, heists, drugs, double dealing, and more, all faster than you can blink. The film follows Joji "Jo" Mizuno (Jô Shishido), a one-time cop who went to the slammer for a few years following charges of embezzlement and assault. When his colleague, Detective Takeshita (Ichirô Kijima) from the force is found dead with a call girl in what looks like an open and shut double suicide, Jo goes on the offensive--literally. He takes the guise of a thug, and goes around beating up gang members looking for a way into the Nomoto gang, whom he suspects had a hand in Takeshita's death.
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Youth of the Beast clocks in around ninety-two minutes, but nary one of those is spent without action and thrills. I have a soft spot for yakuza movies because they often have a lot of exaggerated posturing with good, fun revenge as the motivation--Youth of the Beast is no exception. Our first introduction to Jo doesn't exactly paint him as a cop, nor as a nice guy, at all. Frankly, he goes around actively punching thugs to get attention and stiffing the posh nightclub he visits later. But Jo has a unique talent for putting himself into a situation where he should be at a disadvantage, and turning it around to his benefit. Jo may come across as a "brute"--an alternate title for Youth of the Beast--but with his history and knowledge of the Sakura gang, the overarching syndicate of thugs, of which the antagonist Nomoto (Akiji Kobayashi) is a part, he is often able to manipulate them into seeing him in a favorable light, even when he appears to be caught "red-handed". Jo is crafty, and conjures up a hit against the rival Sanko gang to extort money from them. However, this is all really just a ruse to get their attention, so that he can appear to work for them in secret. With all the backstabbing and intrigue, it might be hard to tell who Jo is actually working for--in truth, it is really himself, and his sense of justice (or at least revenge) for his colleague. Jo is ever the detective, and also uses these volatile connections to glean some clues as to the reason Takeshita was killed, and who set it up.
Youth of the Beast is filled with an extreme set of characters; in a way, Jo is descending not just into a figurative underworld filled with criminals, but a nigh-literal one, filled with depraved sadists and vindictive pimps, cruel torturers and drug-addled femme fatales. The head of Nomoto Enterprises is a venomous snake who favors throwing knives, and pets his luxurious Persian cat--this two-bit Bond villain knock-off enjoys taunting the under-performing prostitutes in his employ and seems almost pleased to have an excuse to abuse Jo, should his cover slip even a little. Jo finds some brief friendship (or at least camaraderie) in the simple hoodlum, Minami (Eimei Esumi), who is impressed by Jo's ability to plan far in advance, and always come out on top. And Jo doesn't begrudge having an ally who is unlikely to see through his charade; but even all good disguises have some inherent flaw within them. And while Jo is able to cope with the obvious ones--getting recognized, or getting caught strong-arming the boss' effete pimp brother, Hideo (Tamio Kawachi)--with the razor--when the twist comes, Jo is pushed into action that is a torrent of justice and revenge, and the lines blur too far for him to really discern. Though Jo claims that his quest is driven by the need to find the truth and confront Takeshita's killer, when the reveal comes, Jo seems to feel a hollowness that comes out of the result of his pursuits, and the sense that he hasn't brought any real justice to the world, and we sense that he hasn't even got the satisfaction out of tagging the big bad to seal that sense of perfect resolution. No, Jo's stuck with a sense that his efforts may have meant that the culprit is found out in the end, but to what purpose? When Jo finally drops the phone after declaring to another detective who has tried to bring him in to end his quest, we sense that Jo's tired, but on more levels than just physical exhaustion: his soul has suffered.
Recommended for: Fans of big, blaring Japanese gangster flicks from the early sixties, filled with a jazzy musical score, and a non-stop barrage of stylish action and excitement.
Youth of the Beast is filled with an extreme set of characters; in a way, Jo is descending not just into a figurative underworld filled with criminals, but a nigh-literal one, filled with depraved sadists and vindictive pimps, cruel torturers and drug-addled femme fatales. The head of Nomoto Enterprises is a venomous snake who favors throwing knives, and pets his luxurious Persian cat--this two-bit Bond villain knock-off enjoys taunting the under-performing prostitutes in his employ and seems almost pleased to have an excuse to abuse Jo, should his cover slip even a little. Jo finds some brief friendship (or at least camaraderie) in the simple hoodlum, Minami (Eimei Esumi), who is impressed by Jo's ability to plan far in advance, and always come out on top. And Jo doesn't begrudge having an ally who is unlikely to see through his charade; but even all good disguises have some inherent flaw within them. And while Jo is able to cope with the obvious ones--getting recognized, or getting caught strong-arming the boss' effete pimp brother, Hideo (Tamio Kawachi)--with the razor--when the twist comes, Jo is pushed into action that is a torrent of justice and revenge, and the lines blur too far for him to really discern. Though Jo claims that his quest is driven by the need to find the truth and confront Takeshita's killer, when the reveal comes, Jo seems to feel a hollowness that comes out of the result of his pursuits, and the sense that he hasn't brought any real justice to the world, and we sense that he hasn't even got the satisfaction out of tagging the big bad to seal that sense of perfect resolution. No, Jo's stuck with a sense that his efforts may have meant that the culprit is found out in the end, but to what purpose? When Jo finally drops the phone after declaring to another detective who has tried to bring him in to end his quest, we sense that Jo's tired, but on more levels than just physical exhaustion: his soul has suffered.
Recommended for: Fans of big, blaring Japanese gangster flicks from the early sixties, filled with a jazzy musical score, and a non-stop barrage of stylish action and excitement.