Boy (1969)
Shônen (original title)Reference View | Change View
- 1h 45min
- Drama
- 09 Apr 1970 (USA)
- Movie
- 4 wins.
- See more »
Photos and Videos
Cast
Fumio Watanabe | ... |
Takeo Omura
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Akiko Koyama | ... |
Takeko Taniguchi
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Tetsuo Abe | ... |
Toshio Omura
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Tsuyoshi Kinoshita | ... |
Peewee
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Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
LoLo Cannon | ... |
(uncredited)
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Do-yun Yu | ... |
Victim driver (uncredited)
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Directed by
Nagisa Ôshima |
Written by
Tsutomu Tamura | ... | (screenplay) |
Produced by
Masayuki Nakajima | ... | producer |
Takuji Yamaguchi | ... | producer |
Music by
Hikaru Hayashi |
Cinematography by
Seizô Sengen | ||
Yasuhiro Yoshioka |
Editing by
Sueko Shiraishi | ||
Keiichi Uraoka |
Editorial Department
Shikako Takahashi | ... | assistant editor |
Production Design by
Shigemasa Toda |
Art Direction by
Shigemasa Toda |
Production Management
Toshimi Kinoshita | ... | production supervisor |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kiyoshi Ogasawara | ... | assistant director |
Daiji Ozeki | ... | assistant director |
Yun-Do Yun | ... | assistant director |
Sound Department
Hideo Nishizaki | ... | sound |
Akira Suzuki | ... | sound effects editor / sound recordist |
Special Effects by
Akira Suzuki | ... | special effects |
Camera and Electrical Department
Fumihiko Kurata | ... | camera operator |
Masayuki Nonomura | ... | camera operator |
Shizuo Satô | ... | camera operator |
Hayato Takahashi | ... | camera operator |
Takashi Ueno | ... | camera operator |
Script and Continuity Department
Akira Suzuki | ... | continuity |
Production Companies
Distributors
- Grove Press (1970) (United States) (theatrical) (subtitled)
- Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1975) (United States) (tv)
- Animatógrafo (1976) (Portugal) (theatrical)
- Carlotta Films (2015) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
- Janus Films (2014) (United States) (theatrical) (re-release) (subtitled)
- New Star (2023) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
- Japanese New Wave Cinema Classics (2006) (United States) (DVD)
- Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2009) (Japan) (tv)
Special Effects
Other Companies
Storyline
Plot Summary |
A couple Takeo Omura and Takeko Kaniguchi travel across Japan with their two sons, the eldest, Toshio, who is biologically his but not hers. They are con artists, whose scam is for her to jump alongside moving vehicles feigning being hit and injured, while he, playing the outraged husband, negotiates with the worried driver for an unofficial cash settlement in return for not calling the police reporting the motorist's "guilt". She often does sustain minor injuries from the ruse. She believes that they will continue doing this work until they have enough money to settle down in one place, where he will get a legitimate job. However, he wants to continue the scam indefinitely as he, a veteran, claims that injuries he sustained during the war would prevent him from obtaining that legitimate work. When Toshio reaches age ten in 1966, they enlist him in the con, he now playing the accident victim, with Takeko now playing the concerned mother role. They even manufacture real bruises on Toshio to make the scam more convincing. Like his stepmother before him, Toshio increasingly gets real injuries doing this work. This work takes its toll on their already dysfunctional family, that dysfunction which includes lies, and physical and emotional abuse by both Takeko but most specifically Takeo. That increasing dysfunction is also due to the fact that Takeko learns that she's pregnant again. She wants to keep the baby if only because it will force them to settle down, while he wants her to abort the pregnancy. Toshio has no true perspective of love or life, he only knowing that they need money to live, this work which is the only way he knows to obtain money. He does begin to get a sense that what they are doing is wrong when he witnesses a boy only slightly older than him being extorted for money from older bullies. As an emotional escape, Toshio often thinks about running away, which may not be difficult as his parents allow him free reign while they deal with their own priorities. Toshio also immerses him and his younger brother in a fantasy world where he is an alien from the Andromeda nebula come to Earth to kill all the evildoers of the world. Written by Huggo |
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Parents Guide | View content advisory » |
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Did You Know?
Trivia | The role of the boy was cast by searching in Tokyo children's homes, eventually finding the young orphan Tetsuo Abe. Abe's own life resembled the fractured childhood of the character he was to play, and he was allowed to join the production with the children's home's permission. After the film's release, Abe was put up for adoption but refused it and chose to stay at the children's home's. He would never act again. See more » |
Goofs | While the boy is wandering through a village it is night time, at the ocean inlet it's dawn, but the following scenes are at night time again. See more » |
Movie Connections | Featured in The Man Who Left His Soul on Film (1984). See more » |
Soundtracks | Roei no uta See more » |