This Japanese version of a James Dean movie just didn't make much of an impression on me. Careening from gambling houses to street races and back, we follow an ex-con and the gambling-addicted girl he's in love with. Infused with 1960s yakuza sensibilities, the film has been interpreted (by the few who've seen it) as an analysis of Japan's place in the Cold War (though that seems awfully misguided) and an in-your-face reaction to popular films of the era. None of this makes the hopelessly muddled and smug Pale Flower any good, though.

Aka Kawaita hana.