A group of disillusioned Japanese high school students all but rule the dilapidated, graffiti strewn building and pay their teachers little heed. The boys’ acknowledged leader is Kujo (GOHATTO’s Ryuhei Matsuda), who made claim to the position by performing eight "claps" (participants hang from a rail on the school roof and see how many times they can clap their hands without falling to a near certain death). Kujo is ambivalent about his new position, however, and respect for his authority gradually lapses. He also alienates weak-willed subordinate Aoki (Hirofumi Arai), who undergoes a radical transformation into a brutal thug and schemes to usurp Kujo’s command. While he is every bit as vicious, Aoki has no understanding of leadership or of the increasingly philosophical Kujo.

Loosely adapted from a manga by Taiyo Matsumoto, BLUE SPRING aims for profundity and never lets one forget that for a second. Director Toshiaki Toyoda (PORNO STAR) has crafted a bleak allegory about disaffected youth whose future has seemingly been pre-determined by Japan’s economic downturn. Unfortunately, apart from the fact that most of these kids are obviously never going to amount to anything, there is no particular reason to care about them or their fate. Posturing is substituted for character development and heavy-handed symbolism is offered in place of a compelling storyline. While it is admirable for a film to attempt something akin to the cultural commentary of BATTLE ROYALE on a much more intimate scale, BLUE SPRING just ends up being obvious and downright wearisome, and an abundance of pointlessly outlandish moments do little to distract one from the emptiness at its core. Sousuke Takaoka, Yusuke Oshiba, Yuta Yamazaki, Mame Yamada (who contributes the most interesting performance as a teacher whose diminutive size leads the students to treat him with more respect than his fellow adults), and Kyoko Koizumi co-star, and there is some impressive heavy metal accompaniment courtesy of the popular band Thee Michelle Gun Elephant.