Daily Archives: February 20, 2017

Cruel Story of Youth (Seishun zankoku)
Directed by Nagisa Oshima
Written by Nagisa Oshima
1960/Japan
Shochiku Ofuna
First viewing/FilmStruck

[box] “Funny,” he intoned funereally, “how just when you think life can’t possibly get any worse it suddenly does.” – Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy[/box]

Oshima is not growing on me.  You can’t help but admiring the filmmaking but two hours of sex-fueled nihilism is not my cup of sake.

I’m not exactly sure how they fit in but the story coincides with some violent student rioting in South Korea.  Makoto is a sweet-looking young high school student who has no problem cadging rides with middle-aged men. When one inevitably comes on to her low-life Kiyoshi comes to her rescue and extorts money in the process in exchange for not going to the police.

Kiyoshi knows that Makoto is secrety yearning for his studly young self so he rapes her when he gets her alone by a river.  He throws her in then exacts his price for rescuing her. As in films of this mindset, Makoto becomes eternally devoted to him after this treatment.  At first he tries to give her the brush off but then falls in love with her.  She scandalizes her family by moving into his filthy bachelor pad.  They decide to make ends meet by running the hitchhiker scam that brought them together.  Events lead them to the inevitable mutually assured destruction.  The moral seems to be that in modern Japan no one can protect anyone else against predators.

Oshima is clearly a talented filmmaker.  I have a feeling he will never win me over but I will keep on trying on account of the eye candy.

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School for Scoundrels
Directed by Robert Hamer
Written by Patricia Moyes and Hal E. Chester from novels by Stephen Potter
1960/UK
Associated British Picture Corporation/Guardsman Films
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Mr. Potter: Just remember, if you’re not one up on the other fellow, then he’s one up on you.[/box]

Britain’s top comic actors are gathered for a tale of one-upsmanship and delicious revenge.

Henry Palfrey (Ian Carmichael) is a good looking captain of industry but he just hasn’t figured out how the world works.  Even his clerk bosses him around.  He meets the beautiful April by chance and they hit it off immediately.  His old college “chum” Raymond Delauney (Terry-Thomas) crawls out of the woodwork to humiliate him at every opportunity and steal her away.

Cleary, drastic action is necessary.  Henry decides to sign up for the School of Lifemanship run by Mr. S. Potter (Alistair Sim).  Henry becomes a star pupil and puts Potter’s principles into practice at the first opportunity.  But will Henry’s basic decency let him down in the end?  With Dennis Price as an unscrupulous car salesman.

With Sim and Terry-Thomas in the credits this was a must watch for me.  It’s an intriguing premise and an amusing film.  Recommended for all fans of dry British wit and a bit of silliness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkfT7p6kBE0

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