Heads Up, Ears Down

This blog accurately identifies depictions of violence and cruelty toward animals in films. The purpose is to provide viewers with a reliable guide so that such depictions do not come as unwelcome surprises. Films will be accurately notated, providing a time cue for each incident along with a concise description of the scene and perhaps relevant context surrounding the incident. In order to serve as a useful reference tool, films having no depictions of violence to animals will be included, with an indication that there are no such scenes. This is confirmation that the films have been watched with the stated purpose in mind.


Note that the word depictions figures prominently in the objective. It is a travesty that discussions about cruelty in film usually are derailed by the largely unrelated assertion that no animals really were hurt (true only in some films, dependent upon many factors), and that all this concern is just over a simulation. Not the point, whether true or false. We do not smugly dismiss depictions of five-year-olds being raped because those scenes are only simulations. No, we are appalled that such images are even staged, and we are appropriately horrified that the notion now has been planted into the minds of the weak and cruel.


Depictions of violence or harm to animals are assessed in keeping with our dominant culture, with physical abuse, harmful neglect, and similar mistreatment serving as a base line. This blog does not address extended issues of animal welfare, and as such does not identify scenes of people eating meat or mules pulling plows. The goal is to itemize images that might cause a disturbance in a compassionate household.


These notes provide a heads-up but do not necessarily discourage watching a film because of depicted cruelty. Consuming a piece of art does not make you a supporter of the ideas presented. Your ethical self is created by your public rhetoric and your private actions, not by your willingness to sit through a filmed act of violence.

Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years Vol. 1: Seijun Rising: The Youth Movies

Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years Vol. 1: Seijun Rising: The Youth Movies. Seijun Suzuki, 1958-1965.
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Edition screened: Arrow box set, released 2018. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime of feature films approximately 449 minutes.

Summary: A few dicey moments with live chickens, but no particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Arrow release includes supplemental materials and five feature films. See individual titles for details.


I found these early Suzuki films surprisingly entertaining and charming. Some better than others, not an outright stinker in the bunch, and all indicating the bravura filmmaking to come. The Boy Who Came Back is the least ambitious of the group but not bad. The Wind-of-Youth Group has the good-natured charm of a better Elvis movie. Teenage Yakuza is good, while The Incorrigible and Born Under Crossed Stars are downright excellent.
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