Review of Young Thugs: Nostalgia

Introduction

Time for another dose of Young Thugs and another of Director Takashi Miike`s reflections on life. This, like the other films in the Young Thugs series, is an adaptation based on the work of Japanese author Riichi Nakaba, who is said to be pleased with the films. The year is circa 1969, the year the Americans landed on the Moon, and we focus on a young boy, Riichi, and his mates Yuji and Kotetsu, growing up in Osaka. Riichi comes from a dysfunctional family but manages to hold it together in Miike`s film of fond childhood memories.

Video

Presented with a 1.85:1 widescreen enhanced NTSC video transfer, the image for Young Thugs: Nostalgia is better than the previous Young Thugs title I looked at, Innocent Blood. The colours look stronger and less washed out for starters and despite some dirt, the image itself is better.

Audio

There`s a choice of two soundtracks: Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1. The DD2.0 soundtrack actually sounds better than the 5.1 version here, it`s more realistic in terms of the sound volume too with sound effects. I found the 5.1 a little too loud and has more background noise than the 2.0 audio. There`s nothing here to get excited about with 5.1 since there is no real use of surround at all and is just the same audio from the other channels.

Features

The DVD has easy to navigate static menus with a handful of extras:

• Bio/Filmographies - Static pages of info on the cast and crew.

• Takashi Miike Interview (subtitled) (14:44) - An interesting interview with the man where he talks about the film.

• Original Trailer (subtitled) (0:59) - Yep, you guessed it, a trailer.

• Original Sleeve Art - The original Japanese VHS sleeve art, which allows you to translate certain sections into English.

• Osaka People (9:38) - Written and presented by Takako Tucker, she gives us a lowdown on Osaka and its people. Very interesting if you don`t already know about Osaka.

The film has English subtitles.

Conclusion

Miike surprises with Young Thugs: Nostalgia, as he did with Young Thugs: Innocent Blood. There`s no sense of his mad and violent stylings here, though there are nice little touches of violence, which are all the more comical because the children take it all so seriously. Miike himself admits that this particular film is his favourite, amongst his collection of over-the-top Japanese work.

It`s not a film with a conventional plot or story, more like it`s a collection of childhood memories from the past strung together by family, school and friends; think of it as memorable incidents of youth and you`d be on the right track. With Riichi`s poor upbringing, his father`s frequent comings and goings, being on the receiving end of beats from his father, and watching his mother put up with what can only be described as `yob` behaviour from her husband, it`s all too easy to see how this might affect a young boy. While his family is somewhat dysfunctional, Riichi doesn`t let this affect him too greatly and he`s all too happy with life outside his home getting into untold fights with rival gangs. It`s these fights that are the makings of a boy turning into a man.

I enjoyed this film because it`s a marked difference from Miike`s other films; it`s funny, poignant and escapist too. It`s not the usual Western view of a passage-of-rites tale with the same things being regurgitated; this film has a different feel yet maintains a familiarity, which is easy to identify with if you think back to your own childhood. Nostalgia is a happy fond memory and this film shows exactly that. The video and sound quality are good, and the extras are minimal yet interesting, making this a nice diversion from the usual DVDs on offer.