Movies: Ryūsuke Hamaguchi

Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to dri...

An unexpected love triangle, a seduction trap, and a random encounter are the three episodes, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets....

It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a game in ...

A young couple's announcement of their engagement to their friends is followed by a series of interactions and conflicts that forces everyone to reflect on their lives....

Asako lives in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku, a free-spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and meets Ryohei. He looks just like Baku, but has a completely different personality....

Spanning locations in Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Hokkaido and featuring interviews with cast members and rare behind-the-scenes footage, it captures the creative collective journey of the filmmaking team....

After a failed wedding shoot, Bae-hwan meets Ryu—a callboy tangled in a murder case—and offers him a way out....

Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to nature....

Four women in their thirties reevaluate their relationships, both shared and private, after a startling revelation concerning one's marriage forces each of them to ask one of life's biggest questions: "Am I who I want to be?"...

After his parents die, a teenager goes to live with his older brother. As his loneliness grows, he becomes engrossed in practicing modern dance with his classmate....

Yuzo and Mitsuki live together in Yuzo's small apartment, their constant companionship tender and indifferent in turn. Then Yuzo receives a call from Satsuki, a documentarian resolved to make a film about a now-distant family tragedy, and the three m...

Shot while the director was still in college, the film is a remake of the Russian film of the same name. The man's dead ex who had committed suicide appears in front of him. The ghost has a cross-like scar on her wrist....

Mari's quiet everyday life falls apart when she meets a mysterious boy. Her uncle returns after a long absence and tells her that earth is under alien control and that Mari is half human and half alien, while the strange boy confesses that he is tryi...

The third part of a trilogy focusing on the Tohoku region that is comprised of dialogues with victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Ideas on how to share experiences of the disaster with future generations, a challenge touched upon in the previ...

Revolves around the bond between two women, a Japanese theater director and a French nurse....

While the wedding day should be blissful for the bride, Eiko, there is a secret that she can’t tell her fiance......

We follow Takumi and his daughter who lead a modest life in the village in the middle of nature. One day Takumi receives word that there are plans to build a glamping site near his home. The discovery that wastewater will be piped into the village’s ...

When returning from a wedding, friends talk about their fears....

Hamaguchi wrote and directed this film as a graduation project for the students at ENBU Seminar (film and theater school in Tokyo) when he taught there. It is a three-part film: The first part is a documentary-style production of a play; Then the act...

A maiden work by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and the origin to his later masterpieces “Passion” (2008), the 255 minute long “Intimacies” (2012), and the 317 minute long “Happy Hour” (2015). The unusual, usual life and the ever wandering souls of 5 young men a...