BLUE SPRING

A.k.a. AOI HARU.

The setting is Asahi High School (a Japanese school for boys) where the walls are literally covered in graffiti, and the film opens on the morning of it's 25th Graduation Ceremony.

The opening scene sees a teacher fleeing the school by taxi, to escape an angry mob of students vowing to kill him!

Next we meet the enigmatic Kujo (Ryuhei Matsuda, GOHATTO) and his gang of black-clad delinquents, playing a dangerous game atop a roof of the school.

Kujo wins the game - contestants have to lean from railings then let go and see how many times they can clap before grabbing the railings again - and consequently is appointed as the 'boss' of his school's senior year.

Which means he rules the roost, theoretically. And certainly he likes to establish his authority on occasion - most notably with the trusty aid of a baseball bat, and later with a nasty looking knife.

But as the story progresses by means of violent vignettes set within the sparsely populated school, it becomes apparent that Kujo is slowly but surely becoming repelled by the crunching punishments his gang are feared for doling out. He wants a better life; a way out.

Unfortunately, Kujo must retain his cool and cruel exterior to remain top dog - especially when his right-hand man and old friend Aoki (Hirofumi Arai, GO) begins to show signs of revolt … and becomes the most extreme school bully you've ever seen!

The hair-pulling confrontation between Kujo and Aoki is bizarrely unique - but to divulge any further than this would be tantamount to sacrilege: although BLUE SPRING is hardly a film of great twists and surprises, it does possess a powerful air of tragedy that needs to be seen to be appreciated.

The pacing of Toyoda's film is best described as 'leisurely'. It's certainly never dull, but this is one of those films that allows for the quieter moments where character development is going to shine through. And that's a good thing.

The soundtrack is brilliant - Japanese punky music (check out Thee Michelle Gunn Elephant - great band!) that compliments the numerous scenes of juvenile angst and confrontation perfectly. It's a huge asset to the film, in fact.

The photography on offer here is magnificent - BLUE SPRING's strongest asset must surely be it's beautiful visual appeal. Every scene is meticulously composed. And, for a film that is set entirely within the confines of a very oppressive school building, it's a major feat to turn this into a visually captivating, always interesting spectacle.

This is my first encounter with writer/director Toshiaki Toyoda, although I have been keen to see what all the fuss was about ever since hearing about BLUE SPRING, and his other acclaimed films PORNOSTAR and 9 SOULS. And I must say, I am impressed. BLUE SPRING has everything I look for in this type of film - mannered performances, stunning visuals, haunting lyricism, and a knack of getting beneath the skin of any lover of cerebral cinema.

I also love the way the film comes across as extremely harsh, despite the fact that most of the violence is cunningly perpetrated off-screen …

Artsmagic's R1 disc does this film justice, both in it's excellent presentation and with the extras.

The film is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 and looks good. Relatively sharp, grain-free and devoid of any qualms or complaints.

Audio is 2.0 Japanese, and this is very reliable indeed. The removable English subtitles are 'shadowed', so as to be easy to read.

The menu pages on the disc are largely static and for the most part silent, but pretty well conceived and interesting on the eye nevertheless. A Scene Selection allows access to the main feature via 12 chapter stops.

The EXTRAS menu page leads into some attractive features.

BIOS/FILMOGRAPHIES offers insight into the director's background (he was a junior chess champion!), as well as the four principal cast members. Well-informed and backed up by text interview snippets; these make for an interesting read.

The COMMENTARY by writer Tom Mes is fluent and information-ridden. It's a good track. Much better than a lot of the director talkies we get subjected to. Mes is a fan of both Toyoda and this film in particular, and this benefits the hugely informative, enthusiastic commentary a lot. A very worthwhile listen.

INTERVIEWS. Artsmagic have graced their disc with two video interviews that any fan of the film will need to see.

First up is a chinwag with the director, talking about BLUE SPRING. Toyoda chain-smokes while speaking in Japanese, answering questions that are presented to us as white text upon a black screen. He covers topics such as his desire to work with Matsuda, how he became involved with the project and pondering over whether he has a discernible cinematic style of his own. Although when he starts comparing the Japanese schooling system to Nazi concentration camps … you have to wonder, what's in those ciggies he's sucking on?! Approx 8 minutes.

The next interview is, er … Toyoda again! Same location, only this time he is discussing his directorial debut PORNOSTAR (actually a Yakuza thriller, before you get excited!). Again, this clocks in around the 8 minute mark. Both interviews offer the option of English subtitles.

ARTWORK is unfortunately not, as one may assume, a collection of promotional materials based around BLUE SPRING, but the covers to three Takashi Miike films that Artsmagic are releasing Stateside - accompanied by brief synopses. Very disappointing.

Oh, and it's a shame there isn't any information on Tayou Matsumoto, whose semi-autobiographical Manga comics provided the source material for the film.

Artsmagic's disc comes housed in a clear keepcase packaging, and is dual layer DVD 9, Region 1 NTSC encoded.

A real surprise of a film, then … a hidden gem that is deserving of an immediate significant raise in profile. And Artsmagic know this, hence their sterling DVD release here. Powerful, tragic, violent yet utterly beautiful to equal degrees … a great film.

Review by Stuart Willis