Bad Company

Torn between his desire to please his father, and the need to rebel against him, this film follows the young Sadamoto (Yamato Okitsu), a middle-school student. His father is a strict dictatorial middle school teacher, who believes all people are either ‘normal’, ‘delinquents’ or ‘scum’.

Sadamoto and his two best friends tire of school, often bunking classes and sometimes shoplifting for amusement. When caught lifting merchandise from a local store, Kobayashi is outraged, and informs his son and his friends that they now fall into the category of ‘scum’. As punishment, all three boys are made to write an essay explaining why what they did was wrong. Sadamoto’s essay is entered for a competition and wins, while his two friends continue to be punished. Sadamoto becomes increasingly angry with his father’s pride in his winning essay, his happiness being based on his son’s shame and sorrow…

Bad Company had its World Premiere at Rotterdam Film Festival 2001, where Tomoyuki Furumaya received both the Jury Prize and the International Critics’ Prize “For a heartfelt reflection on socialization at the expense of individuality, a keen insight into children’s minds.”