A further look back into the life of Riichi,
here played by the very likable Saki Takaoka, Nostalgia
examines his earlier years (1969-1970) as a child who suffers
yet emulates his darkly hilarious never-do-well father, Toshio
(Naoto Takenaka) a loud, small-time carouser who treats all
in his way as inferiors. Though his friends and school life
offer pleasant distractions, especially his puppy-love interactions
with teacher Miss Ito (Yuki Nagata), Riichi's home life with
his caring but fed-up Mother and eccentric Grandfather is
anything but happy, so he and his life-long friends Yuji and
Tetsuo attempt to escape their world through travel and imagination.
Examining youthful masculinity through battle with focus and
the slightest bit of innocence, the film doesn't pull punches
in it's portrayal of youth in a changing world and expands
our knowledge of characters from the previous film -- such
as a local bully and a brief but knowing introduction to a
certain girl closer to Riichi's own age. More subtle and effective
than it's predecessor, Nostalgia features
great performances from it's cast, especially the child stars,
and is the chapter of Riichi's life that will be remembered
as the most effective.
Artsmagic's releases of the films of Takashi Miike continue
to impress as image quality improves with every release. The
cinematography and transfer work evoke a solid sense of summer,
with warm colors and slightly over bright atmospheres, in
fact one would do well to have a tasty beverage standing by.
Solid audio and yet another effective musical score round
out the sensation of place. The disc for Nostalgia,
like that of Innocent Blood, features a similar
bonus materials package which includes a scan of the Japanese
Home Video cover with translation and another featurette by
Takako Tucker -- a 9 minute video dealing with the people
of Osaka -- which is again a very welcome piece. Another Takashi
Miike interview (14 minutes) enlightens us regarding Miike's
opinions on the Young Thugs films, his artistic
intentions and the nature of the past and how it's presented
in his work. There's no commentary track on this edition,
but the extras that are here !work very nicely.
More so than most films I can think of, Young Thugs:
Nostalgia wonderfully examines the universal human
spirit that people share, regardless of culture or ethnicity.
Though I'm an American born in the year the story of the characters
ends, many of the children's experiences in the film harken
me back to those of my own. Summers with friends, constructing
things from wood and hard work, occasional fights that seem
more important than they probably are... Young Thugs:
Nostalgia is a quiet film that features characters
that I found myself truly identifying with. By examining youth
in a realistic fashion, one free of cinematic "sweetness"
or ridiculous implausibility, Miike gets to the heart of what
it is to be a young man in an often difficult world. Hope
and imagination combine with realism and entertainment, here.
Anyone who thinks that the works of Takashi Miike are all
sound, fury and gross-outs would do well to pick this one
up and prepare to feel a little nostalgia of their own.
--Matthew Goltz
Review DVDs courtesy Artsmagic DVD. View trailers of the above
at www.artsmagicdvd.com.
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