I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

"Youth of the Beast" begins with what appears to be a double suicide--a cop and his mistress. However, this will play an important part in the film later. In the meantime, the ultra-cool Japanese actor, Jo Shishido, plays Jo Mizuno--a guy who is super-tough and wants to join one of the yakuza gangs. Hwever, he obviously has something up his sleeve, as he soon joins the rival gang--and soon he begins pitting them against each other. In many ways, this plays like a non-comedic version of Kurasawa's 1961 classic "Yojimbo"--as a crafty guy manages to gain the trust of both gangs in order to bring them down. The big question is why? Why does J constantly risk his life and what does this have to do with the two dead folks at the film's beginning? Because there are rival gangs and lots of betrayals, the film can get a bit confusing--especially at the end when everyone seems to be shooting everyone! These scum naturally don't wear uniforms so sometimes I did have a bit of trouble keeping track of who is who. Still, it is a very good gangster film--one that has plenty of action and the usual Shishido level of coolness. Well crafted and exciting--plus learning who was behind everything--that was a pretty fifty twist!

Joji 'Jo' Mizuno is a tough guy who walks into the lives of two rival crime gangs, playing each against the other for his own financial benefit, both are eager to have him working for them, but both will ultimately regret their decision, when his real motives are revealed. A fascinating crime story based on the novel by Haruhiko Oyabu, that pulls you in instantly, a story that reveals itself only little by little. Suzuki's film is also a pleasure to the eye, the glorious use of colours gives the film a vibrancy that when combined with the demented jazzy score, gives the film an overall pop art feel. The characters are all cool as hell and immaculately well dressed, the Tokyo street scenes are a pleasure to see in full colour, certainly the best use of urban Tokyo I've seen since House of Bamboo. Overall this is a thoroughly entertaining crime flick with pulp overtones, it may not be strong on violence but its certainly not to be missed.

That's what I like so much about Suzuki (and other genre directors from back then). He made genre pictures on studio demand yet sacrificed none of his personal style and artistic aspirations in the process. As a result, Youth of the Beast is as entertaining as it is visually fascinating, the work of a true master craftsman.Jo Shishido plays Jo, a hard-ass guy that won't take no for an answer who inflitrates the local yakuza mob and quickly gains the trust of the boss and his underlings. But when he plays this and another gang against each other, it becomes apparent he has a hidden agenda and operates for reasons of his own. The story is rock solid with enough twists and turns to keep things interested, a whole assortment of colourful (and sociopathic) characters and plenty of violence and hard-boiled badassitude to boot. OK, the violence is relatively tame by today's stadards, but unlike other yakuza flicks from the 60's and 70's, the main character in Suzuki's pictures is his style.Vibrant colours from every end of the palette are combined into beautiful frames, with meticulous attention to detail and an eye for composition. Suzuki is good doing black and white but his work operates on a whole other level when he takes on colour. Clearly a challenge for any director that had to make the transition from b/w to colour (as Sidney Lumet details in his book Making Movies), Suzuki here excels in the task. Unusual yet beautiful compositions include the opening scene which is in shot black and white with with the only exception of a flower appearing in colour, until flashy colour and loud swing music boom at the next cut to reveal a busy Japanese street; or the scenes where Jo and the rival gang boss talk to each other while an old b/w Japanese movie plays in the back; the golden clouds of sand that blow outside the boss's house. There are many such examples yet for all its artistic intent, Youth of the Beast never deviates from its goal: to tell a highly entertaining pulpy crime story of revenge. Not as gritty and nihilistic as the works of Kinji Fukasaku and with a dash of film noir, this is a great ride for fans of 60's crime cinema.

Opening on a scene where a double suicide has taken place, the beginning of Youth of the Beast is filmed in black and white, but with the introduction of the violent, raucous Mizuno Joji, Shishido Joe, the film becomes emblazoned with pastel colors! Well, maybe not, but Youth of the Beast is one of Nikkatsu's earliest and Suzuki's first color films. Displaying color usage that would please Thomas Wolfe, Youth of the Beast takes on the stereotype of the yakuza being noble outlaws who fight against the system to preserve traditional Japanese culture. The yakuza in this film resemble more the modern mold: drug dealers, pimps, and extortionists. It is amidst this crowd that Jo tries to establish himself. Beating up random people, harassing waiters, hiring the services of several bargirls, and then saying that he does not have the money to pay, Jo at first is accosted by members of the Nomoto family, but because he is able to impress them with his considerable fighting skills, he is asked to join the gang. With it bespectacled, cat-loving, knife-chunking boss, the Nomoto family makes a chunk of its money by extorting local business owners. Employing such tactics as setting people's heads on fire by using a can of hairspray as a blowtorch, Jo quickly establishes himself as someone not to be messed with and it seems that the Nomoto family has within its ranks a strong guy to further their cause. However, is this man to be trusted? Behind Nomoto's back, Jo also mingles with the Sanko gang, Nomoto's chief rival. Stating that he is only doing it for the money, Jo gives a number of Nomoto's secrets to the Sanko boss. However, is Jo truly in it solely for the money? Visiting the wife of the detective whose body, along with his lover's, was discovered in the opening scene and avoiding other's at the service, it seems that Jo has something to hide…With the recent releases of four classic Suzuki films, Gate of Flesh, Story of a Prostitute, and Fighting Elegy being the other three, Suzuki fans have had a number of good films in which they can sink their teeth into. One of four films Suzuki directed in 1963, Youth of the Beast displays a number of elements that would become familiar aspects of his later films, such as the creative use of color and surreal backgrounds. Also, while primarily a serious film, Youth of the Beast has a comic element as well and, of course, Shishodo Joe is awesome!