Bad Boys

Bad Boys

1961. Japan. Written and directed by Susumu Hani. With Yukio Yamada, Hirokazu Yoshitake, Koichiro Yamazaki. One of the great postwar Japanese filmmakers, Hani, a seminal figure of the Art Theater Guild, presents several of his key works at MoMA. His debut feature, Bad Boys, was voted best film of the year by prominent critics and launched the Japanese New Wave. A classic of the genre, it’s a tough, poignant story about teenage delinquency that gained its street cred through vérité camerawork, on-location photography, improvisation, and the use of nonprofessional actors. Hani’s reputation as a brilliant and vital new voice in Japanese cinema was cemented by such films as She and He, The Inferno of First Love, and The Morning Schedule (all screening in a special weekend with Hani). Print lent by The Japan Foundation; courtesy Iwanami Audio-Visual Media Ltd. In Japanese; English subtitles. 89 min.