Subete ga kurutteru (1960)'s comments

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zampano

I'm surprised this isn't on any official lists. While the setting of this film is very specific (post-war Japan), the themes are universal: A gaping generational divide between children and parents; pent-up young male energy; sexual confusion. The film's main subplot is about abortion, and it sympathizes with the young woman. This is an outstanding film.

12 months ago

Siskoid

There's no question that what Suzuki means with the title Everything Goes Wrong is that the trouble started with World War II. War footage is in the opening credits and then we jump to 1960, the Japan of baseball, apple pie, and jazz bars. It's also the Japan of street gang and disaffected youth, a Japan where American culture rules and morality has deteriorated. On a more personal level, Jiro is a young man angry that his father died in the war and his mother's lover works for the war machine. His anger will take him far, or rather, low. He's a James Dean type whose rebellion might as well take him to criminal places. The other focus of the film is Etsuko, a young woman who has become pregnant and is desperate for an abortion, if she can only raise the funds for one. Though the two hang with the same crowd, they're not directly related, but her need will act as a catalyst for Jiro's wildest days. Suzuki cleverly ties them together in their desperation and rudderless existence. A bit bleak, but a potent manifesto about post-war Japan.

4 months 2 weeks ago