Asako I and II, a Passionate Love Story Told by Filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi

In 2015 Ryusuke Hamaguchi made a name for himself at the Locarno film festival with his Senses trilogy. It is an intimate drama that unfolds over 5 hours and 17 minutes, cut into three parts, recounting the story of an unbreakable friendship between four dissatisfied thirty-somethings: Akari, a nurse proud of her singledom, Sakurako, a stay-at-home mother, oppressed by the presence of her husband, and Fumi, jilted by her partner, and Jun, in the depths of divorce after having been unfaithful.

Three years later, the 39-year-old filmmaker was invited to Cannes to unveil his feature-length film Asako I & II.  According to the press material, ‘Following the sudden disappearance of her first love, Asako is distraught. Two years later, she finds her perfect match. Intrigued by the strange resemblance between them, she allows herself to be seduced, yet discovers a man that is not who he first appears’. The film is a reflection on the universal experience of addressing the scars left by a first love, and the transition to a more durable partnership. Traversing distilled moments of folly throughout the story, the filmmaker is able to demonstrate the way in which existential or romantic rationality is fragile, brittle and able to dissipate at any moment.