Red film music, with its unique advantage of audio-visual integration, deeply participates in the cultivation of youth values. This study introduces affect theory and constructs the core framework of “empathy–cultivating guidance–internalization” to reveal the dynamic pathways through which red film music cultivates youth values. Accordingly, value cultivation begins with bodily affection, proceeds through affective circulation, and culminates in meaning condensation. The “empathy” phase, through techniques such as audio-visual counterpoint, thematic motif development, and immersive soundscapes, creates affective disparity and resonance within young bodies, transforming them from historical bystanders into present participants. The “cultivating guidance” phase, in the state of affective openness, leverages the explicit symbols of ceremonial music and the implicit infiltration of diegetic music to smoothly introduce mainstream values, forming a balancing mechanism of explicit-implicit cultivation. The “internalization” phase, through affective imprints of peak experiences and post-viewing reflective engagement, condenses fluid affect into stable beliefs, which ultimately externalize as behavioral self-discipline. The three phases progress in a layered manner, deeply rooted in the three major media advantages conferred by audio-visual integration: emotional immediacy, memory robustness, and reception concealment. Building on this foundation, this study articulates a tripartite framework for cultivating youth values through affective triggering, value enculturation, and belief internalization. The proposed pathways comprise: immersive soundscape design and technical interventions to evoke affective responses; symbolic-metaphoric coding in music to facilitate value enculturation; and experience-driven pedagogical practices to enable the transformation of belief internalization.