Passions juvéniles

What a fascinating film this is. Elements of it surprised me for 1956, and in particular for a Japanese movie. It seems to me a forerunner of the French New Wave, and that this archetypal 'Sun Tribe' effort represents an even bigger departure from traditional Japanese cinema at the time than those films would be to the French. No wonder François Truffaut was such a fan of it.

The story is straightforward - two brothers fall for the same woman - but this is a film about tone, and context. Everything about it screams post-war, disaffected youth. A group of young men are bored, critical of traditional ways, and looking for good times - and young ladies. The younger of the two brothers (Masahiko Tsugawa) has an innocence about him, and falls for a pretty woman (Mie Kitahara) without realizing she's already married. The drama deepens when his older brother (Yujiro Ishihara) begins putting the moves on her behind his back.

The openness with which Kitahara's sexuality is displayed is a little shocking, though there is a grace to it, and it's refreshing to see. She deceives her American husband, and enjoys being the center of attention at a party. With the younger brother she needs to provide encouragement for him to make love to her, in one scene moving his hands up on to her breast. With the older brother, she gives way to his forceful overtures, even after saying 'no' initially. If that sort of thing is a trigger to you, you may want to avoid this one, as it also has the young men competing early on to see who can bring the hottest girl to a party, and other testosterone-fueled chatter. In general, the characters are hard to like, which may also be a turn-off. On the other hand, that's part of the point, and the film shows a reckless and sexually carefree youth in ways that are less inhibited than Hollywood at the time.

All of the principal actors turn in solid performances, and Masumi Okada is quite debonair in a supporting role. Mie Kitahara is quite pretty, and it's interesting that she would marry Ishihara, the actor who plays the older brother, just four years later. There is a little unevenness in the shots director Kô Nakahira captures - some are just beautiful, while others seem low-budget - but it's an impressive first film, and all the more so as it was a few years ahead of the French New Wave (e.g. Chabrol's Le Beau Serge (1958), Truffaut's 400 Blows (1959), Godard's Breathless (1960), etc). It seems to me the film ought to be better known.

Some of the negative reviews posted do not understand the historical significance of this film (obviously young viewers). You just can't compare it to coming of age films today. This portrayal of Japanese youth in the mid 1950s (ten years after the end of the war) was so shocking to Japanese audiences that the older generation often walked out on the film. As a matter of fact, no American movie at that time could show this type of adultery and sexual pleasure in a film. This movie was loved by Truffaut and very much resembles a French new wave film.

Ko Nakahira's Crazed Fruit is, to put it mildly, an immensely welcome addition to the Criterion roster. It is uniquely modernist, impressionistically rendered, sensual in its physicality, and absolutely unlike anything to precede it in Japanese cinema. To put it bluntly, Ko's film is as significant a break from aesthetic (and moral) traditions as Godard's Breathless would prove to be two years later. The story – nominally an attempt to cash in on the "sun tribe" fashion, whereby children of the wealthy would wile away their summers sun bathing and boating (an unthinkable luxury before the 1950s) – follows the travails of two selfish and licentious brothers whose love of the same girl yields to hyperbolic tragedy of epic proportions. Whether the ending is meant as a conservative suggestion of the moral repercussions precipitated by the making idle of one's hands, or something more bleakly Sartrean, is up to interpretation. What is clear is that none who see it shall ever forget. An epochal masterpiece, based on a book by the current mayor of Tokyo!

What starts as a young adults at the beach, coming of age story slowly devolves into a morality tale rooted in an overused love-triangle plot device. This time it involves two brothers vying for the same woman. What lifts this one above the rest are the technical elements.

The direction is solid. The lighting and cinematography are wonderful, especially the moonlit scenes. The cast does a great job, with the female lead giving a shining performance. The subtle ukulele-driven, Hawaiian-inspired soundtrack provides the perfect moodiness; and the costuming deserves a shout-out.

Of the "Sun Tribe" movies I've seen, this one feels the most Hollywood-ish. I realize that the infiltration of Western culture into post-war Japan was a major theme in Japanese cinema for a while, but this film feels like it actually exhibits more of stereotypically Hollywood style.

I anticipated the explosive ending; however, it still provided a fantastic jolt!

The title "Crazed Fruit" probably has different connotations in Japanese...but in English, the title seems to suggest the viewer is in for a trashy entertainment. In fact, "Crazed Fruit" is a brilliant, thoughtful, and powerful film.

The film succeeds through its strong writing and strong performances. The director seems to have a clear vision for the film -- unusual, considering it was his debut feature.

What gives "Crazed Fruit" its depth and richness is the subtlety of the plot and performances. The film ends in tragedy, but this outcome has its origins in ordinary, minor human flaws that anyone could identify with. The three main characters' weaknesses combine in a particularly unfortunate way, to produce a spectacularly bad result. The younger brother is blameless and pure in his desire to know true love; the older brother is understandably overcome by the strength of his feelings of love and passion; the girl is blameness in her desire to experience an innocent and powerful form of love. Yet together, the three work to bring about disaster.

Highly recommended.