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All of his life, young Sadao (Koji Wada) thought he was an orphan, now
he's revealed to be the heir of the Matsudeira-clan of Awaji island - and
he isn't even sure if he likes it, especially after the clan has cast out
his mother and everybody refuses to reveal even her identity to him.
However, Sadao eventually decides to stay, and he and his grandma Lady
Ikuyo, the head of the clan, develop a mutual respect for one another,
despite their totally different backgrounds: She is steeped in tradition
while he prefers a Western anything-goes lifestyle - but they are both
strong-willed, thick headed and have their hearts in the right place. Then
Sadao learns that Yakuza boss Nanjo - an old nemesis of his - wants to
build a spa for the very rich on island Awaji with the help of lady
Ikuyo's half-brother Kanjuro - and he cleverly outsmarts them by selling
them some worthless land and using the money to build a youth hostel. Kanjuro
and Nanjo make numerous attempts to either outsmart or even kill Sadao,
but he always proves to be one step ahead of them, and he's even helped by
Nanjo's secretary and girlfriend Yuki, who eventually is revealed to be
his mother. Sadao wants his mother back with the family, and even
persuades her grandma to accept her in their midst again, but Yuki wants
to have nothing more to do with him - until she learns about a plot of
Nanjo to kill Sadao witht he help of Kanjuro. She now turns against Kanjo,
but he sees that as an opportunity rather than a loss, and he uses her as
well as Lady Ikuyo as hostages to get his hands on Sadao's hostel. In a
finale on horseback, Sadao tries everything to get mum and grandma free
without having to give up the hostel, but it seems he is fighting a losing
battle despite everything ... until the police, alarmed by Sadao's
friends, arrives to sort things out. Thing is, after this episode, Yuki
wants to make good her promise and disappear from Sadao's life for real -
and he has to stop a commuters train on his own to get her back ... Certainly,
Fighting Delinquents is not director Seijun Suzuki's most profound
or most artful film, in fact, on the surface it's ltitle more than a blend
of gangster movie, melodrama, comedy and musical - but more than in most
of Suzuki's other early films, the director's playfulness clearly shines
through, as when he uses differently coloured lights to highlight a
pivotal dialogue, when he counterpoints a chase on foot with a bunraku
puppet theatre performance, or when he quotes American Westerns in the
finale on horseback. Of course, that all doesn't make Fighting
Delinquents an intellectual work of art, but quite simply a joy to
watch, and the film clearly foreshadows Suzuki's later masterpieces, first
and foremost Toky Drifter.
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