Blue Spring

If one pays scant attention to the news in Japan, seen Iwai Shunji's _All About Lily Chou Chou_, or read short stories and novels by Murakami Ryu, one knows that Japan, like other countries, suffers from an escalation of violence in schools. This violence works in three ways: student vs. teacher, teacher vs. student, and, the most common, student vs. student. Although it is still rare, the newspapers and news programs are peppered with stories of bullies beating someone to death or the bullied killing his bullies. Murakami Ryu and Yu Miri have both focused on these subjects in their literary works. Toyoda Toshiaki, through his film _Blue Spring_ also touches on this controversial subject.

The kids attending the all boys Asahi High School would basically be considered the dregs of Japanese society. The school is rundown and the teachers teach such a drypan, apathetic manner that it is not surprising that the kids could care less. The only teacher who seems to actually care about any of his students is a dwarf who waters the flowers on the school grounds all day.

However, although the teaching might be unstructured, there is a rigid code of hierarchy enforced by the tough kids. A leader is chosen by a suicidal ritual in which a student claps his hands as many times as possible while falling backwards. After he claps a certain amount of times, he grabs the guardrail. Miss the guardrail, instant pancake.

At the beginning of this film, after the "graduation" of the senior class, Kujo, played by the extraordinarily handsome Matsuda Ryuhei, wins the contest. Kujo is a bit indifferent to his new found power, but goes along with it because he has the support of his friends: Aoki, Yukio, Yoshimura, and Kimura.

Although many of the students are not satisfied with the way their lives are shaping, they seem to basically concede that good jobs and college are not in their future and that they are either on the track to become either a menial laborer or a member of the Yakuza.

_Blue Spring_ is an interesting film that depicts individuals who are not on the "normal road of becoming a good Japanese citizen": i.e. Graduation, work, stable family. It shows the dregs, but the dregs also show that social hierarchy exists from the lowest to the highest.

I think that the film is quite well done. The filming is dark, but it fits the atmosphere of the film. The soundtrack is excellent.

I'm going to keep it short: I do hope this movie doesn't die out along with the jap trend as it is really worth seeing, especially if you are around (or just past the age of the protagonists) or planning to be involved in education. It's got great yet simple symbolism and a teenage-angst ridden realism that isn't try-hard. If you have experienced anything close to that kind of school envimeronment, it hits home. If you have been as privileged as not to, then it might prove to be quite eye-opening. In other words, it is food for thought, paired with a killer soundtrack, that embraces and escalates the feelings of each scene: be it angst, sadness, pressure or the very abscense of any of them.

I watched this film for the first time a few nights ago, and it was still in my mind as i took my hour's long morning walk to work.it was still not enough time to properly reflect on what i'd just watched. it really touched me deep, it effected me as much as Battle Royale. even though i couldn't get subtitles on my computer the story was easy to pick up and i didn't realise i wasn't reading them. if i could strongly recommend any film other than 'Battle Royale', 'All about Lily Chou-Chou' and 'moonlight jellyfish', it would most definitely be this one.its quite a powerful film. there's more to the story than just whats on the surface and we get to see some of our most lovable Japanese actors play totally new roles. one of which is the lovely 'Sosuke Takaoka' who plays the slightly psychotic 'Yukio', who gives 'Kazuo Kiriyama' a run for his psycho-status.even though he goes out too early he is the one who sticks strongly in my mind,he can change such a simple little tune into one that is quite haunting.all the characters add something special to the film.in my opinion its too short.i love long films and would have liked to get to know a little more of each character,especially 'Yoshimura' ('Shugo Oshinari') 'Yukio' ('Sosuke Takaoka') and 'Takashi Tsukamoto's' character.the violence is strong but none the less kept realistic and believable right up until the breath-holding end,which kind of pulls on the heart-strings but doesn't disappoint in the quality of the ending, only for the fact that we're left with feeling of sadness for 'Aoki', one of the main characters.this film ends in totally the right way to be true to the film.this film was done with pure excellence and is capable of showing beauty through the darkest of violence.many people forget what its like for young kids growing up and the situations, challenges and decisions they have to face. this film can really bring you back down with a truthful slam to the ground.this is one story that will stay firmly set in my mind for a very long time and one that should be acknowledged,all the actors really pull of this film with the highest quality.other than the above mentioned Japanese films, you really will be hard pushed to find such a powerful film to beat this one,you will not be disappointed, guaranteed. Lisa Sawyer(21)

With a Soundtrack from 'Thee Michelle Gun Elephant' that most English Indie Producers would kill for, and amazing cast and crew. Aoi Haru draws us into the lives of Japanese teenagers who aren't so lucky in life, who have to make their own destiny from the left over scraps of others who happen to throw them their way.

Aoi Haru is based in a public all boys school called Asahi High.

A extremely miserable place where teachers don't bother to encourage the boys to excel, gang graffiti tags are everywhere marking their turf, and the yakuza's frequently hang around outside the school trying to recruit young members.

The boys learn early on that if you don't fight for what is yours and what you want, then you better keep your mouth shut and stay out of the way. And even though these boys do act tough and dish out violence like a ice cube down the back of your shirt, the boys feel lost and confused due to the fact they cannot understand why they can not make their dreams come true. Almost feeling forced into the violence and self destruction they create because it will be their only real legacy they can leave behind before they enter the real world and pretty much dead end lives.

On the 25th Graduation ceremony at Asahi High a group of the new seniors head up to the Schools roof for a deadly tradition held by the boys who wish to rule the school. A initiation that involves the boys hanging off the side of the building and seeing how many claps they can do before they give up or just fall to their death when they can't grab the rail in time.

And this time Kujo wins the leadership, which does confuse the other boys abit because he is quiet and constantly deep in thought about things but accept it because he won fair and square.

Even though Kujo does seem to be harmless and gentle, when it comes down to it he can be the most violent member of his gang. Though Kujo is the leader of the gang and his Best friend Aoki adores him deeply, Kujo doesn't really want to change anything. He doesn't want to rip the school apart with violence unless he has to. He just feels lost about not knowing what the future holds and what is beyond High School, and constantly asks his friends what they will do after High School because he secretly doesn't know what to do himself. Which annoys Aoki greatly, because he has all of the power and he doesn't want to do anything with it. With this Aoki decides to break off and turn Asahi High into a living hell for everyone who is unlucky enough to get in his way, which in turn rips these Childhood friends apart.

But can they fix their friendship before it's too late?

In the end this Movie really is for all the Gofers, Wanna-bes, Dreamers and lost souls out there. Because everyone can relate to at least one of these characters in Aoi Haru

so i decided to get around to watching this after seeing a pretty screencap from the film and googling it, reading a synopsis that sounded interesting and finding out that it had a cult following among both western and Japanese fans. i've viewed the film and *gasp* dear god my opinion is blasphemous--i really wasn't a fan. I was surprised to only see one other negative user review thinking it was my fault but nah not really. FIRST, i enjoyed the cinematography, acting and score. the j-alt/punk rock soundtrack was amazing utilized, not a lot of diversity but it was as rattly and raw as what was unfolding on the screen so props for that. the acting was also nothing crazy but the nihilistic tones of the film were conveyed very well with sincere acting that depicted withdrawn yet oddly human characters. the imagery and overall cinematography was quite beautiful, and visually it was pleasant to watch; special mention to the sakura porn that popped up every once in a while because those were especially beautiful but thats just my inner weeb talking. BUT i really wasn't a fan of the actual characters and plot. i thought they were icy--and i'm not talking reserved icy--i mean detached, disconnected and barely relatable. so as the events were unfolding throughout the film, i didn't really care to keep up with the people at the centre of the conflicts. i also didn't like the plot as it was vague with seemingly random events at times. i've seen other reviews defending the film saying its a fascinating take on disillusioned teenage Japanese boys a-la battle royale and how they struggle to find their meaning as adults blah blah blah. i'm not going to argue against that, i've just seen similar ground covered in related works that make this film look weak and barely pointed. if anyone's seen suicide club, i think that touched on similar themes but really drove the meaning home. in terms of trying to find one's place, NANA & a bunch of other manga series make a much greater effort and execute their message effectively. i didn't see that in this film, and a bit of metaphor and musing from characters for 5 minutes max definitely doesn't interest me towards the whole coming-of-age story its trying to push. maybe i don't get it, maybe if i was Japanese it would make more sense but i've enjoyed works in a similar vein and found little to love with blue spring (aoi haru)