is a 2020

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

written and directed by Haruhiko Arai, based on the novel by Kazufumi Shiraishi. It was named Best Film of 2019 in the 2020 Kinema Junpo Awards

Plot

Kenji (Tasuku Emoto) receives a call from his father asking him to come home to

Akita is a Japanese name and may refer to: Places * 8182 Akita, a main-belt asteroid * Akita Castle, a Nara period fortified settlement in Akita, Japan * Akita Domain, also known as Kubota Domain, feudal domain in Edo period Japan * Akita, Kumamoto, ...

for the wedding of Naoki (Kumi Takiuchi), an old friend he has not seen in many years. Upon their reunion, it is revealed they once were lovers and quickly fall into an affair, which they agree will last only until Naoki's husband-to-be, a military man away on business, returns home for the wedding. Over the course of five days they reconnect, have a lot of sex, talk about their past together, other relationships, and the after-effects the

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...

on their lives. The film is primarily a

two-hander A two-hander is a term for a play, film, or television programme with only two main characters. The two characters in question often display differences in social standing or experiences, differences that are explored and possibly overcome as ...

, with the only other characters appearing incidentally or offscreen.

Reception

Critical response

James Hadfield of ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' praised the actors' "convincing chemistry" and found the film managed to be "explicit without being gratuitous" with "a welcome frankness in the film’s depictions of sex," noting "a common theme of people surrendering to private passion in the face of more momentous events beyond their control" with Arai's previous work. James Marsh of the

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

was less kind, calling the film "an interminable bore" and stating "Nothing remotely arousing is created during the numerous sex scenes, which are interspersed with dollops of pseudointellectual gibberish."

Awards and nominations

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Kinema Junpo Awards , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

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Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

, Kumi Takiuchi , , - !

Mainichi Film Awards The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...

, Haruhiko Arai , , , - !

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

, Best Film , Haruhiko Arai , {{Won , , -

References

2020 films Japanese drama films 2020s erotic drama films