Fighting Elegy DVD Review:

Seijun Suzuki’s Fighting Elegy is nearly forty years old, yet still manages to hold all of the impact and intensity needed to make it one of the most effective commentaries on the violence of young men. Mixing humor with extreme violence, all of which committed by middle school boys struggling with hormones and girls, Fighting Elegy is a pleasure to watch over and over again.

Nanbu Kiroku struggles with the desire for a young girl he is living with, Michiko. She is a good Catholic school girl, and yet Kiroku has only one thing on his mind. His way of dealing with the temptation is through fighting. He is taught to fight and soon he is leading an all out rebellion against everyone. First he rebels against the gang he has joined after they are angry that he is walking with a girl, and then he rebels against the school and academy he attends. Even if it means walking through glass, Kiroku refuses to back down.

When Kiroku is kicked out of his school he is forced to live with his aunt and uncle and attend a new school. It isn’t long before he is taking on the entire school, and from there he fights a rival school. The fighting never stops for Kiroku, even when he is grossly outnumbered. He is a fantastic warrior and soon it seems as though he has little else.

The violence is often comical, but also has the ability to quickly turn into something much more extreme and graphic. They are only in middle school but they have no fear of using dangerous weapons, and if needed, they will even bite each other. One scene in particular shows a boy having his ear bitten off by another. What makes the violence somewhat stylized, and even a little humorous, is the fact that the middle school boys are played by men. The actors are obviously older than the roles they are playing, and yet their mannerisms fit well with how I imagine an adolescent boy would act.

The amazing thing about the film is that there will be one scene in which the gangs are fighting, and it turns into a battle that is equivalent of a small war, and yet the next scene will be one in which the boys are scolded by parents or principals, drawing away from the extreme violence and back into the real world. It makes me wonder if the battles are not meant to be more how they look in the boy’s heads rather than how they actually play out in reality. Either way each scene plays out like a work of art, to be appreciated and cherished.

Criterion has released a great newly restored high-definition digital transfer, which makes the film seem even more modern and relevant. Each frame looks beautiful and I almost expected some scenes to fade into color because of how cinematic they felt. It is stylized, but never to the point that it distracts from the wonderful, yet simple, story.

As far as special features are concerned, there is an essay on the film in the inside sleeve of the simple DVD cover. There is also the original theatrical trailer. Otherwise the DVD is pretty much void of any perks, but much of that has to do with how old the film is. The fact is that the film stands on its own, never needing extras to make it worth purchasing. Some may not appreciate the film at first, but I guarantee that nearly everyone that sits through the entire movie will be pleasantly surprised.

Ryan Izay

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