☆ ☆ ☆
The
Warped Ones (1960) – K. Kurahara
Although it may have been luridly
eye-opening to the Japanese society of 1960, Koreyoshi Kurahara’s delirious new
wave drama leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
After getting caught stealing, Akira, a psychopath, spends time in a
juvenile detention centre. Upon his
release, he picks up where he left off, stealing a car with his buddy and a
prostitute friend, and then he relentlessly targets and harasses the journalist
who caused his earlier arrest and his artist girlfriend. Akira loves jazz (Chico Hamilton style) and
the movie is edited to a hep feverish rhythm but its stylishness can’t overcome
the brutal content. With no moral sense,
perhaps not even an understanding of what is right and wrong, Akira moves from
one situation to another, always doing the wrong thing, the wicked thing – but
yet he grins all the way through. The
central action involves rape and its consequences and the film ends without
punishment for Akira nor any real commentary on his actions or even a comment
about the society (or world) that could produce such a person. Everything is laid out to shock viewers but I
wouldn’t recommend this except for its historical value; a better take on the
same ideas is Oshima’s Cruel Story of Youth (also 1960).
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