The Warped Ones

In 1960, the children born before and after the second world war had grown up. Torn between the cultural power of the government and the traditions, many of them struggled to find their place. The Warped Ones takes us directly into this world, where youthful restlessness and energy are obscured by poverty and the huge shadow of the war. While Godard portrays this with some sympathy in Breathless, Koreyoshi Kurahara shows how this easily ends with pure nihilism. Directly from the youth prison, our three protagonists steal a car and kidnap the fiancée of their whistleblower. But things soon get out of hand. Episodic in structure, realistic, unpleasent and with unresolved energy. krj

Suitable for persons 15 years and older.

Koreyoshi Kurahara is well known as the director of one of Japan’s most successful films ever – Nankyoku monogatari (Antarctica, 1983), but arguably peaked creatively during his years at Nikkatsu. The Warped Ones and its sequel Black Sun (1964) are both brilliant films, while his noir from 1960 (Intimidation) is now being remade in Hollywood…