Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2011

Director Nobuhiro Yamashita’s film based on the memoir by Saburo Kawamoto comes off as a combination of Koji Wakamatsu’s award-winning United Red Army (2008) and Yukinari Hanawa’s coming-of-age crime drama Hatsukoi (2006). All three period pieces are set in the late 60s and early 70s. Wakamatsu’s work focuses on the true story of student radicals, while Hanawa’s uses an historical crime to sketch the lives of its characters. My Back Page, also based on a true incident, introduces us to Sawada (Satoshi Tsumabuki), an idealistic journalist just out of college, and scheming student radical Umeyama (Kenichi Matsuyama). Though Sawada thinks he is chasing the story of an important radical group he is actually abetting a half-crazed and self-interested Umeyama in a crime. The film raises many interesting questions, such as the tension between being an observer/reporter and getting emotionally involved with your subject; the difference between political action and common crime; and the continuum between idealism and responsibility. While the pace is a little too languid, both leads, two of the most popular young male actors in Japan, are excellent—with Matsuyama particularly shining as a sinister megalomaniac with a silky exterior. A rewarding film for those willing to put in the effort. (141 min)