A revelation: a work that clearly prepared the way for the Japanese New Wave, especially the early films of Nagisa Oshima. Based on a novel by Shintaro Ishihara, which had a galvanizing effect on Japanese society, PUNISHMENT ROOM caused a firestorm of controversy when it was released. Housewives' associations picketed screenings, the film was attacked by government officials who attempted to ban or censor it, and critics debated its merits in raucous round tables. As powerful as ever, PUNISHMENT was a pioneer work of the taiyozoku or "sun tribe" genre: novels and films about the violent, rootless, and sexually liberated lives of wealthy youths who emerged during the postwar economic boom. The film centres on Katsumi, a university senior who despises his ineffectual parents, and whose nihilism is expressed in his attitude towards his teachers and his new girlfriend, whom he drugs and rapes. Disturbing, potent, and superbly shot, PUNISHMENT ROOM suddenly looks like a key work of fifties Japanese cinema. "A masterwork" (Tadao Sato)