Kiroku boards with a Roman Catholic family and falls for the daughter Michiko. He ignores his feelings, joins a gang, gets in fights and, eventually, becomes involved with the radical Kita Ikki group.
Direction
Suzuki's hyper-stylized frames that make delinquency look like modern art.
Editing
Jarring cuts that mirror Kiroku's fractured psyche—absolutely unhinged.
Acting
Hideki Takahashi's wild-eyed intensity sells every unhinged decision.
Director
Seijun Suzuki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Takashi Suzuki's autobiographical novel, this captures the real 1930s student radicalization that led to Japan's militarization—Seijun Suzuki makes it feel dangerously seductive.
The Catholic imagery isn't just aesthetic: Suzuki grew up in a Catholic orphanage and understood how repression and ritualized violence intertwine. Kiroku's rosary-beating scenes are personal.
JP
