Blue Spring

Secondary school is heaven and hell. At a rough boys’ school in a new Japanese suburb, the days seem to last for ever. To use up their boundless energy in the midst of all that boredom, the boys play dangerous and sometimes cruel games. For instance, to decide who is the boss: the one who dares clap his hands most often on the edge of the fence on the school roof, as he falls backwards. One day, the hip Kujo wins the game. His childhood friend Aoki idolises him and at first Kujo takes kindly to his role as leader. But as the end of his school career comes in sight and everyone has to choose a future a career with the Yakuza or not Kujo loses interest in leadership. He hardly pays any more attention to Aoki and, in doing so, inevitably sets a violent mechanism in motion.It is probably no coincidence that Blue Spring, just like last year`s Bad Company and Battle Royale, is about secondary schoolkids in Japan. Many Japanese filmmakers are searching for the causes of the economic and social crisis. A little selfreflection can’t do any harm, apparently.Blue Spring is supported by beautiful classic photography and a Japanese rock soundtrack by Kenji Ueda that reverberates for a long time.