Crazed Fruit (1956)

God bless the Criterion Collection. I get to see a lot of movies that I wouldn’t normally get to see. Including this 1956 Japanese classic by Ko Nakahira. This movie is about a love triangle that takes place during what must be summer. I don’t know how to describe this film without ruining aspects of it. So I’ll try and not reveal anything that isn’t in the film synopsis on the back of the case.

There are two brothers competing for the affections of one you Japanese woman. Yeah– they think she is gorgeous. I think she looks sort of man-ish with her mullet. But, gender is a social construct and I’m digressing. They spend most of the summer gambling with cards and women. They also drive boats around a lot. Mostly because the man-ish woman refuses to ever get in a fucking car or meet anyone in a normal place. Oh, and most of the characters are always drunk.

The film has a surprise ending. And you’ll have to sit through a lot of slow build up to get to that point, just like their romance(s) slowly heat up. It ain’t hard to see how this movie had 50s Japan all shook up with contraversy. Definitely a movie worth watching at some point. Beautiful, beautiful shots make you wish you were a spoiled rich kid in postwar Japan.