“You look like a baby but you’re a liar.” Black Emperor leader disciplining an underling

If you’ve heard this title, you’re probably somewhat familiar with the Montreal-based post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor. But this is not about them. Rather, this is about the Japanese documentary from which they took their name.

Directed by Mitsuo Yanagimachi in his feature debut, Goodspeed You! Black Emperor (a.k.a., ゴッド・スピード・ユー! BLACK EMPEROR Goddo Supīdo Yū! Burakku Enperā) is about a bōsōzoku motorcycle gang called the Black Emperors, and a member’s interactions with his parents after he got in trouble with the law.



It’s important to remember that during the 1970s, Japanese youth culture was substantially different than it is now. This was a time in which the Japanese economy was on the ascendency but with many post-war youth being left behind, unable to find a place in society.

The youth featured in this documentary lack the education, resources, or social capital to claim part of Japan’s new prosperity, and so form a hierarchical society of sorts to create a sense of family. This documentary chronicles the lengths that youths will go to form a group identity, no matter how distasteful this group’s actions may be.

What Godspeed You! Black Emperor reveals is that there’s no romance to bōsōzoku. The costs are drastically greater than the rewards. To join this youth subculture is to take up an order that’s more constricting than the mainstream option — with ample physical abuse as a side order. Why would anyone put themselves through this ordeal? What we are faced with then is seemingly a world without hope.

Aesthetically, this documentary is shot in high contrast black and white. There’s no voice-overs or interludes. The soundtrack features copious Japanese garage rock to accentuate the outlaw aspects of bōsōzoku life.