What's Japanese for A Clockwork Orange? Kyonetsu no kisetsu! This movie plays out like the first act of Clockwork, with Akira and his pals plucking motorcars from the trees, taking pretty Polly, and all that -- all to a cool jazz soundtrack. There's some manner of a plot involving Akira raping a girl and her falling in love with him, and Masaru moving into big-time gangsterdom, though these seem inconsequential even as they unfold.
The real joy of this film is watching Tamio Kawaji sneer his way through society, insolent and barbaric without an ounce of respect in his body. It is truly a wonder to watch: the simple act of eating a fruit or reading a newspaper becomes a vehement rejection of society.
A truly worthy member of the proto-punk canon.
* * * R A T I N G * * *
Kyonetsu no kisetsu (IMDB)
Wince : [*____]
Flinch : [**___]
Retch : [**___]
Gape : [****_]
Beerequisite : [*____]
Pornability : [*____]
Obscurity : [**___]
Explicability : [***__]
Most over-the-top 'holy crap!' moment: The chicken. Saying any more would ruin it.
Biggest gasp from the well-off audience in the UES theater I saw this at: Yuki pleading with Akira to defile her fiance in the same way that he had defiled her, apparently so they would have something in common.
Best unintentionally humorous cross-cultural scene: The Japanese patrons of the Jazz club bopping their heads to the crazy beat.
Best unintentionally homoerotic scene: Akira and Gill going for a swim. What the hell did these guys think they were filming?
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1 comment:
I caught this one at Fantastic Fest and it was my favorite movie of the whole festival. Something Weird supposedly has an adulterated version called 'The Weird Lovemakers', but I haven't checked it yet to see how different it is. There's evidently another film with some of the same characters continuing on called 'Black Sun'
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