Blue Spring (2002)

Before you decide to watch "Blue Spring",you should know it's not your typical troubled school kids movie.It's a deep,realistic and shocking glimpse in the hearts of those with no future or hope.

Story: The plot is pretty simple,or so it seems at first.A bunch of bored teenage delinquents playing a life-risking game in order to prove their courage.But,of course it's not just that.Behind the "clapping game" hides the desire of the students to prevail over their classmates,to gain a place in that depressing,cruel reality,showing us how fearful power can be and the dreadful consequences of it.In contrast to this,we are also shown the strange and fragile friendship amongst the boys,their doubts and decisions for their lives.It may be slow-paced at some parts but it's ideal for creating the atmosphere and our image of the characters.

Acting/Cast: In my opinion,they couldn't have picked better actors for this movie! Matsuda Ryuhei and especially Arai Hirofumi are just perfect for the roles of Kujo and Aoki-they brought to life such complex characters! The rest of the cast were very good too.

Music: The soundtrack truly completed the movie for me."Drop" at the end and also "Akage no Kelly" brings me back many memories of this beautiful movie!

Rewatch Value: This is also a 10/10.Rewatching "Blue Spring" is a must!Especially since many important parts/messages of the movie could be easily missed and you'll be left confused.Going back to study the characters and to understand their way of thinking will help you understand why things turned out the way they did.

Overall: "Blue Spring" is not flawless and there are some things that could be added (such as more background stories about the students)or explained better in order for the viewer to get a complete understanding of the situation.However,this could be the intention of the director-to get us thinking and if that was the case,I have to admit he succeeded for sure!The atmosphere was very fitting and artistic too-I really enjoyed everything.

An excellent movie but definitely NOT for everyone.

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This is a very deep movie, not everyone will enjoy it. The pace is realtively slow and the atmosphere takes a huge role in the storytelling. It revolves around one of the main concerns of our society. Many people find dreams and have hopes for their lives, but there are those without anything. Just drifting along, nothing to work towards, nothing to do. How do these kids deal with the emptiness that their life is? Can they find something to hold on to? And when do they reach the point where living becomes too much effort?
Overall i feel like the movie is very artistic and accomplishes what it is set out to.

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Do not even know how to explain this movie in words. But please watch. The MUSIC IS AMAZING, even though I don't understand the lyrics the music does an amazing job conveying emotions behind the scene. What all those body did and went though...jesus. The teacher/gardener was really full of wisdom and said what the ML needed to hear. The ending scene was really unexpected, but then again so was the movie. The scene where the 2nd ML is on the terrence for the entire day was so cinematic in its own way. You really get to know it took him long to make the decision he made, or it could be his own way of reflecting and saying goodbye in his own way (watch and interpret it how you please)

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I always find movies depicting male friendships particularly interesting. I can tell from the many Japanese movies I've watched, that failure is a prevalent theme that resurfaces, and this movie does a perfect job at depicting that looming unknown and possible failure awaiting these young people. For these 7 boys, the uncertainty of their future caused them to implode their present, and slowly descend into chaos in their final year of high school. I can't wait to rewatch this film and see all the new layers I can peel off.

The cinematography was simply perfect for the vibe and the soundtrack couldn't have been more perfect to represent teen angst. Also really loved the use of slowmo, sometimes in films I can feel sorta desperate to speed up a slowmo that lasts too long but they really knew when to utilize it throughout and it really emphasized certain scenes. Will definitely be that kind of movie that I can't stop thinking about for weeks.

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A Powerful Portrayal of Alienated Teens During Japan's "Lost Decade"

"Blue Spring" is regarded as a minor classic in Japan, and for 3 good reasons. First, the director maintains a swift pace and holds your interest despite the absence of one overarching plot (instead, the plot's fueled by a number of different acts of alienation portrayed by an ensemble cast). Second, it features then unknown teenage actors who went on to have extremely successful careers -- eg, Matsuda Ryuhei, Arai Hirofumi and Nagayama Eita.

Third, it is set in the late-90's, right when Japan's economic bubble had burst and the nation was reeling with unemployment, bankruptcy, crime and the inevitability of angry, futureless teens forming gangs. It's this third element more than anything else that accounts for the movie's fame, because this era looms so large in the Japanese psyche that they even refer to it as "The Lost Decade." And it was the teenagers of "The Lost Decade" who felt the brunt of economic despair the most because they were at what should've been the start of careers but were, instead, at the start of a road to nowhere. The movie conveys this hopelessness with excellent dialogue, such as the following exchange between a teen, and a teacher wherein the teen compares himself to a flower:

-- "Teacher, aren’t there some flowers that never bloom?"
-- "Flowers are meant to bloom, not to dry up. That’s what I choose to believe. It’s a very important thing.”

The blooming of flowers is a recurring metaphor, which is also expressed with an inner monologue of a boy who's just dropped out of school. He has realized that his life will never bloom and that he is, as he calls himself, a "loser."

-- "I staked my whole life on baseball. My only goal was the nationals. In this shithole of a school baseball was my only flower. I staked my life on my bat, my dreams on my pitches all to make the spirit of baseball bloom. In the midst of the roaring crowd, a glimpse of my mother's face. She's always there to love even a fool like me. Always ready to smile. I love you so much for that. Even if my body was broken and all my tears and sweat dried up, my dream remained the nationals. No regret for my youth. Loser."

What's especially marvelous about "Blue Spring" is how the theme of teenage alienation is conveyed just as powerfully with a punk rock soundtrack as it is with such dialogue. That is to say, it's the nature of punk rock to speak of the same raw, angry nihilism of futureless youths. And the song "Drop" from the uber cool J-punk band "Thee Michelle Gun Elephant" is pitch perfect for the final plot point.

Music, acting, setting, characters, and theme all converge seamlessly to create a movie that's just as compelling for contemporary audiences as it was to those actually experiencing "The Lost Decade" back then. You see, the movie succeeds as more than a cultural commentary about a specific era, and it does so by evoking a timeless, universal theme -- which is, of course, the timeless, universal theme of teenage alienation.

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The spring that is blue

I don't know what to write about this movie.

This was the movie that left me most speechless, I have no idea what to write during this review.

This was a crucial moment in my life, it was a perfect time for me to watch this movie. It came at an exact moment (I'm using the word "moment" a lot), this is perhaps one of the most important movies for me so far. This movie captures the feeling of despair in high school better than any other movie.

What if you just don't know what to do or just don't care?

Kujo shows this, even though he is the leader, he shows that he doesn't know what to do in certain situations, in fact everyone there doesn't know what to do about everything. It's easy when we're kids to define our dreams, but as you grow up, you realize that it's not as easy as it seems.

This movie is something much more personal to me than I feel in any other movie, this movie basically defines my life very well. I'm lost, I don't know what I want to be, I'm actually afraid of everything.

The movie is much more than just a movie, it goes further and shows you that your life will depend on your actions, it will depend on your choices. Your childhood dreams will be changed when you reach adolescence.

"- Sensei, are there flowers that never bloomed?
- Flowers were made to bloom, not wither! At least, that's what I believe"

Kujo is an extremely relatable character, even though he's not a person who doesn't talk much, just by his actions you can feel empathy and identify with such a character. The same goes for Kujo's friends, they all have dreams that in the end they won't be able to achieve, because in addition to following different paths, they no longer have the purpose they once had.

- Spoilers for the ending of "Blue Spring" in this paragraph -

I was left open-mouthed with the ending, I followed Kujo's journey the whole time and that of his childhood friend Aoji. Obviously, the two are great friends, but Kujo doesn't give Aoji the real importance until the end when Aoji makes a "joke" or a kind of "championship" to decide who will be the leader of the gang, something that happens since the beginning of the film. Aoji dies at the end, and Kujo realizes the real importance of his friend, but it was too late.

- Conclusion about everything -

I have friends, family and everything, but I'm still afraid of something, I'm afraid of the things that can happen to me. I don't know what I really want in my life, I just want to have a peaceful life.

This film shows how much I'm afraid of something, this film will be very important to me from now on. Even if I watch it several times after I'm an adult, it will always have a huge affection in my heart.

I have so much to say but it won't come out in words. I can praise the soundtrack and the direction, which are truly spectacular. The acting is also beautiful. I can't express how I feel about this film.

It's definitely going to be on my top favorites list.

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