SYNOPSIS: High schooler Kiroku Nanbu yearns for the prim, Catholic Michiko, but her only desire is to reform Kiroku’s sinful tendencies. Hormones raging, Kiroku channels his unsatisfied lust into the only outlet available: savage, crazed violence. Fighting Elegy (Kenka Erejii) is a unique masterpiece in the diverse career of Seijun Suzuki, combining the director’s signature bravura visual style with a brilliantly focused satire of machismo and fascism.
| Kiroku Nanbu | Hideki Takahashi |
| Michiko | Junko Asano |
| Turtle | Yusuke Kawazu |
| Takuan | Mitsuo Kataoka |
| Principal of Kitakata J.H.S. | Isao Tamagawa |
| Kaneda | Keisuke Noro |
| Ikki Kita | Hiroshi Midorigawa |
| Kiroku’s father | Seijiro Onda |
| Yoshino Nanbu | Chikako Miyagi |
| Director | Seijun Suzuki |
| Art direction | Takeo Kimura |
| Cinematography | Kenji Hagiwara |
| Screenplay | Kaneto Shindo |
| Based on a novel by | Takashi Suzuki |
| Editing | Mutsuo Tanji |
| Music | Naozumi Yamamoto |
| Producer | Kazu Otsuka |
By January 10, 2005
In an essay published in 1981 in the Japanese film magazine Art Theater, Suzuki Seijun’s kid brother Kenji offered what still stands as one of the most illuminating comments on his brother’s cinema: “Seijun Read more »
