I really liked this movie, but I'm not going to make a huge amount of comments because I've just seen it for the first time so I don't have a lot of "insight" about it. Maybe later I will come and add more. Let me just say that right from the first shots of the movie it's pretty extraordinary, with that slow pan right into the main character's (Shintarô Ishihara) eyes. And I remember also in particular that scene where his brother (played by his real-life brother, Yûjirô Ishihara) first makes love to the married woman they are both in love with (Mie Kitahara), the literally "crazed" look in his eyes.
Some have said this is the "Japanese 'Rebel Without a Cause'", but it's actually closer to "East of Eden" if anything. I wouldn't want to go too far with either of those comparisons though. There's a lot of depth to this movie. It deals with anti-American feelings in post-war Japan. For example, the brothers' best friend is played by Masumi Okada in the character of Hirosawa Frank, and there's a really striking scene where all of them are in a dance-hall and the steward apologizes for not giving him special service when he sees his face and realizes that he's half American. The woman they are in love with has married a much older American man. It's typical of the movie's subtlety and nuance that this older American is not portrayed in any kind of stereotypically negative way. His mere presence in the conjugal bed with this lovely young Japanese woman is enough to make a statement, even if he's the nicest guy in the world. There's a feeling that the culture is being co-opted by America, but even the ostensible "hero" of the film wears Hawaiian shirts. It's not an anti-American movie, it's about how a lot of the young people in Japan at that time didn't have a sense of direction or a sense of hope, and how America in some ways or American culture represented a false hope perhaps.
I think the very ending was not quite as shocking or surprising as it seems to have been intended to be, but that would be my only minor complaint. The cinematography and direction are amazing here. The acting is very good as well.
Some have said this is the "Japanese 'Rebel Without a Cause'", but it's actually closer to "East of Eden" if anything. I wouldn't want to go too far with either of those comparisons though. There's a lot of depth to this movie. It deals with anti-American feelings in post-war Japan. For example, the brothers' best friend is played by Masumi Okada in the character of Hirosawa Frank, and there's a really striking scene where all of them are in a dance-hall and the steward apologizes for not giving him special service when he sees his face and realizes that he's half American. The woman they are in love with has married a much older American man. It's typical of the movie's subtlety and nuance that this older American is not portrayed in any kind of stereotypically negative way. His mere presence in the conjugal bed with this lovely young Japanese woman is enough to make a statement, even if he's the nicest guy in the world. There's a feeling that the culture is being co-opted by America, but even the ostensible "hero" of the film wears Hawaiian shirts. It's not an anti-American movie, it's about how a lot of the young people in Japan at that time didn't have a sense of direction or a sense of hope, and how America in some ways or American culture represented a false hope perhaps.
I think the very ending was not quite as shocking or surprising as it seems to have been intended to be, but that would be my only minor complaint. The cinematography and direction are amazing here. The acting is very good as well.