For the First Time, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Sophomore Feature ‘Passion’ Is Coming to U.S. Theaters
Courtesy of Film Movement.
On Friday, April 14, Ryusuke Hamaguchi's sophomore feature, 2008's Passion, will finally be released for the first time in the United States, playing in New York City and Los Angeles theaters before expanding to other major cities in the coming months.
In 2021, Hamaguchi's film Drive My Car launched his career to a new level of international stardom, earning him a Best Director and Best Picture nomination at the 94th Academy Awards, the latter of which made him the first Japanese filmmaker to achieve that accomplishment. Hamaguchi's efforts on Passion serve as an early reflection of the writer/director's career-spanning fascination with intricate interpersonal relationships that he would explore throughout his prolific career. Impressively, Passion served as Hamaguchi's graduation project at the Tokyo University of the Arts before screening at San Sebastian Film Festival and TOKYO FILMeX. Centered around a newly engaged couple and their close friends, Passion examines the meandering complications surrounding love, romance, and self-integrity.
Set in modern-day Tokyo, Passion focuses on Kaho (Aoba Kawai, who also collaborated on Hamaguchi's 2021 film Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy) and Tomoya (Ryuta Okamoto), a young couple who have finally become engaged to marry after a ten-year relationship. However, after announcing their engagement at a dinner party with close friends, it is revealed that Tomoya has been unfaithful multiple times over the years. An evening of celebration quickly transforms and displays many complex interpersonal dynamics in both Kaho and Tomoya's lives. Through many profound, intense conversations with companions, both old and new, the couple must confront their own individuality and the choices they have made in their romantic lives.
Although Passion was just Hamaguchi's second feature-length work, its understanding of the nuances of human connection is clearly reflective of the director's enthrallment with the complications of reality in a modern world, which he goes on to investigate in all of his films. Largely taking place in the early hours of the day as night gives way to morning, Passion boasts an intricately articulate screenplay that allows its actors to thoroughly investigate the ins and outs of the complex characters that Hamaguchi creates. In addition, Hamaguchi's investigations of modern Japan and its effects on the country's gender dynamics are fully present throughout Passion, emphasizing his unique perspectives on the contemporary world and the influences which cloud our minds. At times as exasperating and disconcerting as reality, Passion is an astutely sincere portrayal of the trials and tribulations of love, which most audiences can relate to in one way or another.
Few early efforts are capable of genuinely showcasing the creative sensibilities of a filmmaker, yet Passion profoundly captures Hamaguchi's oeuvre that would go on to earn him worldwide recognition and respect from critics and cinephiles everywhere. Audiences can see Passion beginning on April 14 at New York's Film at Lincoln Center or in Los Angeles at Laemmle Royal. The movie will expand to more U.S. theaters in May before becoming available on-demand this summer, courtesy of Film Movement.
Courtesy of Film Movement.
For more information on Passion, visit Film Movement's website.