This film is currently unavailable
This film is certified

- Contains strong violence and moderate references to sex and abortion

Cruel Story of Youth
Nagisa Ôshima’s breakthrough portrait of alienated youth is a stinging castigation of an indolent, self-indulgent youth culture.
Drama 1960 97 mins
Director: Nagisa Oshima
Overview
This second feature by the Japanese cinema-insurgent Nagisa Ôshima (In the Realm of the Senses, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence) galvanised its home-turf with its topsy-turvy directorial dexterity and stinging castigation of an indolent, self-indulgent youth culture reposing on the eve of the turbulent 1960s. When high-schooler Makoto is saved from the advances of a lecherous middle-aged man by uni student Kiyoshi, the pair embark on a fits-and-starts affair that finally settles into a sexually extortionary, mutually exploitative dependency that promises to spell their relationship’s doom.

Related
Drama

County Lines County Lines
Drama 2019 90 mins Director: Henry Blake
Blistering thriller of a teen groomed to work for a brutal, organised drugs network.

You, the Living You, the Living
Comedy 2007 93 mins Director: Roy Andersson
Washed out interiors provide the backdrop for a motley crew of characters: a stout depressive and her long-suffering husband; a young girl with a crush on a rock musician; couples with too much to say, or too little; a diligent tuba player...

Force Majeure Force Majeure
Drama 2014 120 mins Director: Ruben Östlund
On a family holiday to the French Alps, a couple see stress put on their marriage when, during a crisis, the father abandons his family.

Babette's Feast Babette's Feast
Drama 1987 99 mins Director: Gabriel Axel
Gabriel Axel’s Oscar-winning story of a Parisian chef who finds refuge in a Danish village; a magical film about the power of the senses.

Enfant Terrible Enfant Terrible
Biopic 2020 135 mins Director: Oskar Roehler
The life and loves of celebrated filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder are laid bare in this engrossing, unconventional biopic.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Drama 2002 121 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Acclaimed director Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden, Oldboy) kicks off his celebrated ‘Vengeance trilogy’ with this dazzling, shocking tale of kidnapping, organ transplants and revenge.
Japanese Classics

Ran Ran
Drama 1985 154 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa’s visually spectacular epic transplants Shakespeare’s King Lear from Celtic Britain to feudal Japan.

Tokyo Story Tokyo Story
Drama 1953 136 mins Director: Yasujiro Ozu
A constant fixture in critics' polls, Yasujiro Ozu's most enduring masterpiece is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret.

100 Years of Japanese Cinema 100 Years of Japanese Cinema
Documentary 1996 52 mins Director: Nagisa Oshima
Archive propels argument in this fascinating exploration of the social and cultural importance of Japan's film heritage.

Tokyo-Ga Tokyo-Ga
Documentary 1985 92 mins Director: Wim Wenders
Profiling one of the great directors of World Cinema, Wim Wenders delivers this moving portrait of Japanese auteur Yasujiro Ozu.

Mifune : The Last Samurai Mifune : The Last Samurai
Documentary 2016 80 mins Director: Steven Okazaki
The on and off-screen character of Toshiro Mifune, Japan’s first international movie star, is explored in this illuminating documentary exploring the life and legacy of this mercurial icon.

Sansho Dayu Sansho Dayu
Period drama 1954 125 mins Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Mizoguchi’s historical epic is among the greatest of all Japanese films, and a masterpiece of humanist cinema.
Directed by Nagisa Oshima

100 Years of Japanese Cinema 100 Years of Japanese Cinema
Documentary 1996 52 mins Director: Nagisa Oshima
Archive propels argument in this fascinating exploration of the social and cultural importance of Japan's film heritage.
New

County Lines County Lines
Drama 2019 90 mins Director: Henry Blake
Blistering thriller of a teen groomed to work for a brutal, organised drugs network.

You, the Living You, the Living
Comedy 2007 93 mins Director: Roy Andersson
Washed out interiors provide the backdrop for a motley crew of characters: a stout depressive and her long-suffering husband; a young girl with a crush on a rock musician; couples with too much to say, or too little; a diligent tuba player...

Force Majeure Force Majeure
Drama 2014 120 mins Director: Ruben Östlund
On a family holiday to the French Alps, a couple see stress put on their marriage when, during a crisis, the father abandons his family.

Mulholland Dr. Mulholland Dr.
Thriller 2001 142 mins Director: David Lynch
David Lynch’s beautifully baffling, surreal psychological thriller.

Babette's Feast Babette's Feast
Drama 1987 99 mins Director: Gabriel Axel
Gabriel Axel’s Oscar-winning story of a Parisian chef who finds refuge in a Danish village; a magical film about the power of the senses.

Antichrist Antichrist
Horror 2009 104 mins Director: Lars von Trier
After tragedy strikes, a couple retreat to a cabin in the woods in order to grieve. However, they find things go from bad to worse, in this brutal interrogation of nature from Lars von Trier.