SETTING.. A city in Chiba Prefecture in the end of the 1960s

SYNOPSIS:
JUN, 22 years old, was given a small bar by his parents and has been running it for three months. JUN's childhood friend, KEIKO, helps his bar. He was graduated from a high school in CHIBA Prefecture in the late 1960s, the time when students were devoting themselves to political movements. He did not go to college because of his father's insistence. His father was born during World War II and maintains very traditional values. Now his parents own and operate a car-repair shop.
One rainy day, JUN visits his parents to take his car back from them. His parents were trying to separate JUN from KEIKO. His mother insists that JUN will ruin himself by having a love affair with KEIKO.
KEIKO's left ear is deaf. JUN believed that, as she told him, it was because she had been beaten by her mother when her mother found out by JUN's notice that she had stolen a fig. However, JUN's father says KEIKO made up the story herself and the truth is that she had been beaten by her mother because her mother saw her being raped by the man her mother loved. His father embellishes the story, by saying KEIKO enjoyed sex with this man. In blind anger, JUN kills his father while his mother is away shopping. At first, his mother is frightened to see her husband dead, but she soon recovers and attempts to help him conceal the crime. When they begin to talk about KEIKO, his mother abnormally shows a burning jealousy and reprimands him, threatening him with a knife. When they are struggling with one another, JUN kills her also.
JUN returns to the bar and tells KEIKO that he will close the bar today. There comes his high school friend, MIYATA, with his fiancee, IKUKO, and his college friend, HIDEKA, to show a 8 mm film they made when they were in high school. The subject of the film was to kill school teachers and parents. They begin to fight, and JUN is badly beaten.
JUN returns to his parents' house and wraps the dead bodies in large sheets of cloth. KEIKO knowing something is wrong, follows him there. She remains calm as if she had already sensed what had occurred. They make love in JUN's room, while his parents' bodies lie downstairs.
Later they remove the corpses from the house, and after throwing the bodies into the sea, KEIKO confesses that the story about stealing a fig was fictitious. JUN says, "I want to burn this place. It has to be HERE!" He pours gasoline to the bar and tries to kill himself by trying his hands to a beam. KEIKO rescues him, and tries to help him escape. He cannot be consoled, and abandons her.

NOTES:
The film is a cinematization of a short story by NAKAGAMI KENJI. The story is based on a true incident which occurred on October 30, 1969, in ICHIHARA City, CHIBA Prefecture. The script writer, TAMURA TSUTOMU, is known for his excellent films, such as OSHIMA NAGISA's "Death by Hanging" (KOSHIKEI) 1968 and "Boy" (SHONEN) 1969. He had been away from the movie world in order to write novels, and this is his first screenplay in five years. With the producer, IMAMURA SHOHEI, he made further research on the case which is the basis of this film.
It takes place in a newly developed suburb where old communities are being destroyed, and new houses for the families of Tokyo's commuters are being built. The film's focus is to capture the attitudes of Japan's present day youth. The reasons for the crimes were revealed and associated with Japan's modern day problems. Old communities meet in a very awkward way, and at the same time reveal the contradictions Japan's families are now faced within their daily lives.
The director, HASEGAWA KAZUHIKO, joined the IMAMURA Production Company by applying for the position of assistant director for "The Profound Desire of the Gods" (KAMIGAMI NO FUKAKI YOKUBO) 1968. He worked as an assistant director in IMAMURA's "Madame Omboro" (NIPPON SENGO-SHI) 1970 and assisted in the films of FUJITA TOSHIYA and KUMASHIRO TATSUMI. He had also drawn attention by his scripts for several films such as KUMASHIRO's "Bitterness of Youth" (SEISHUN NO SATETSU) 1974. "Young Muderer" is his first work as a director and ranked the best film of the year. His next film, "The Man Who Stole the Sun" (TAIYO WO NUSUNDA OTOKO) 1979 was also well received. He has not had the opportunity to make a new film, though he has shown promise as a new director.
In this film, the rebellious youths were portrayed by MIZUTANI YUTAKA and HARADA MIEKO. They both received the year's best actor and actress prize for this film. ICHIHARA ETSUKO, who portrayed the troubled mother of JUN, gave a stunning performance.