4K UHD, Blu-ray Release: Cruel Story of Youth

By
Laurence
– July 8, 2026Find Others: Blu-ray, Movie, New Release, NewsGet More: , , ,

4K UHD, Blu-ray Release Date: July 21, 2026
Price: 4K UHD/Blu-ray $24.98, Blu-ray $19.98
Studio: Criterion Collection

A scorching tale of toxic love in a toxic world, 1960’s Cruel Story of Youth, Nagisa Oshima’s (Death by Hanging) second feature film, marked the artistic breakthrough of one of the most radical voices in the history of Japanese cinema.

Caught in the dog-eat-dog crucible of postwar Tokyo, teenage lovers Makoto (Miyuki Kuwano) and Kiyoshi (Yusuke Kawazu) turn to a life of crime, entrapping lecherous middle-aged men in order to extort their money. But how long can the wayward youths outrun their fate?

Bursting with vivid color, this visually scintillating, furiously nihilistic film howls with rage at a society in which everything—love, sex, and youthful idealism—has been corrupted.

Here’s a breakdown of the discs’ contents:

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
  • A Town of Love and Hope (1959), director Nagisa Oshima’s first feature film
  • Tomorrow’s Sun (1959), a short film by Oshima
  • Interview with film scholar Tony Rayns
  • Trailer
  • An essay by critic Chris Fujiwara
Buy or Rent Cruel Story of Youth

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About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.