Good for Nothing

Yoshida’s striking debut film. Confronted by the onslaught of television, in 1960 the major film production company Shochiku all of a sudden gave young assistant directors the opportunity to make their own films in an attempt to reach a new and young audience. The result was the Shochiku Nouvelle Vague, a group of films by elite university graduates brimming with energy and a view of life and Japanese society that was completely at odds with Shochiku’s emphasis on harmony.
Based on his own original script, Good for Nothing depicts a new moral amongst the youth, estranged from the previous generation that had brought about the postwar economic miracle. Bored middle-class youngsters start robbing just for fun, but end up in a deadly game of crime and betrayal. This debut also introduces distinct elements of Yoshida’s style, such as a non-conventional mise-en-scene and fluid, expressive camera movement. At the time often compared to Godard’s À bout de souffle (1960).
Good for Nothing is also part of the Back to the Future programme.