Youth of the Beast, (Seijun Suzuki, 1963)
After two soul-crushing Swedish films I decided to lighten the mood with some anarchic Seijun Suzuki/Joe Shishido madness. I would sometimes show Suzuki's Youth of the Beast in my Japanese film noir class, although in the last couple years I kept it in reserve to suggest to students for different films to analyze for their final exam. It's not as over the top as Branded to Kill or Gates of Flesh, but it's chock full of general Suzuki brilliance/lunacy, and Joe Shishido is, as always, great. Every time I watch it the film reminds me more of Kurosawa's Yojimbo, which came only two years earlier, only passed through a Seijun Suzuki meatgrinder.
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