Fighting Elegy

Suzuki made more than his share of genre classics, but this (his penultimate film for Nikkatsu) is something else: a completely original anatomy of young male hormones that shows how repressed violence can be channelled into fascism. Being the director he is, Suzuki films it as comedy. It's set in the militarist 1930s, and the 'hero' is a high-school student who finds that a good rumble beats a cold shower. The film has none of Suzuki's usual florid visuals, and doesn't need them. It catches the tone of adolescent fumblings precisely, and its cool 'Scope images give it the contours of a masterpiece.