If You Were Young: RAGE (1970)

If You Were Young: RAGE (1970)

** Major Announcement **
The weekly screening has moved from Thursday to Wednesday


February 3rd, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)


Out of the chaos and destruction of the Second World War Japan emerged and began the long task of recovery. By the 1960's the economic situation had greatly improved, but for another segment of the population this had little meaning. An entire generation of young people had grown up in the ruins and shortages of Japans urban centers. Already thoroughly jaded, they then encounter a shortage of good jobs, old prejudices and a sense of utter hopelessness. This feeling was the subject of many dynamic films in the 1960's and 70's, If You Were Young: RAGE is one of these. Director Kinji Fukasaku had a varied career including his masterful anti war film Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972), the American-Japanese co-production Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) and perhaps most notably his Yakuza films of the 1970's including his five part Battles Without Honor or Humanity film series. Out of these RAGE has much in common with the Yakuza pictures in that they both portray a gritty, frequently depressing world of kinetic energy and bitter realities.

The plot of RAGE is simple, a group of young men decide to work for their future and pull together to save up enough for a large truck so that they can make a living as a subcontractor for a construction company. While the plot is simple, it is also virtually meaningless while viewing the film. The real substance is the inner feelings of the men as they try to create a life for themselves. The characters are not after wealth or fame, but escape from a hellish world that seems indifferent to their existence.

Japan, Director Kinji Fukasaku, Cast Tetsuo Ishidate, Gin Maeda, Choichiro Kawarazaki and Hideki Hayashi, 89 minutes, in Japanese with English subtitles