Running Time: 147 minutes

2005

Three Lovers - three different identities. Yuko is 35, single, unemployed, manic depressive and divides her time between a variety of men - her university friend, a self-confessed pervert, a manic depressive gangster, her cousin, who is separated from his wife and dumped by his lover. Ryuichi Hiroki explores the essence of "being alive" and "continuing to live" in this tragi-comedy.

This movie disturbed me. Yuko is a lady who lives alone in a studio apartment in Tokyo's Kamata Town which in her opinion, "is without an ounce of chic". The movie starts off with her moving into town and then walking around taking pictures and exploring the area. As a sign of having been working for too long; the first thought that came into my mind was: "Doesn't she have to work? Ah... must be a weekend." Then as the movie progressed, I realised that she did not have to work because she was living off her parents' insurance pay-out.

Yuko has an online diary which she posts pictures she takes during the day and gives a commentary on each picture. She loves to bathe in a bathing house right below her house at night too. Her day is filled with random activities like hanging her clothes to dry on the roof:

Like what the synopsis stated, she spends some of her time with some very strange men too. Like her university mate Homma who is impotent and believes that he will be cured when he meets a girl he truly loves; an internet guy "K" who is a married pervert; Noburu, a depressive gangster who contacts Yuko after reading her online diary. That's them at Tyre Playground - an entire playground made from tyres with a huge Godzilla (made of tyre as well, of course!) as the main attraction:

This park seemed like a really nice place. If I ever visit Tokyo, I shall make it a point to visit Kamata town. It felt like a really nice place. Very laid-back, small town kind of feel to it.

The movie really struck a chord with me when Yuko tells Homma that her friends slowly distanced themselves after she was warded into a psychiatric hospital. She was admitted due to her severe depression after her parents' death (she makes up their cause of death to be from an earthquake; in reality, they died in a fire. She made up the earthquake story because she felt it was rather lame to have died in a fire. Also, her lover died around the same time in the sarin gas attack). She continued that she does not really need friends anyway; no one can accept her manic-depressive behaviour so it's better for her to be alone. But beneath her strong willpower to carry on with life, I could hear her inner cry for human comfort and love. Which was why this movie left me very disturbed.

Then her cousin came to visit. Soichi is a drifter who is separated from his wife and dumped by his Tokyo lover (which was why he crashed at Yuko's place). He did not seem like a particularly interesting character until Yuko's manic-depressive behaviour surfaced. He cared for her and slowly brought her out of her depression. To alleviate her loneliness, he even brought her some goldfish:

And brought her to a night bazaar:

His patience and tender care was really surprising to me given that my initial impressions of him was of being a casanova. Yuko was obviously very touched by his actions too. To her, perhaps this was the long awaited human touch she so coveted.

Soichi left Kamata to return home eventually after Yuko recovered from her depression. He decided to return home and make up with his wife so that his marriage will not go to waste by ending in a divorce. But it is apparent that he loves Yuko as he gives her a passionate kiss before he drives off in his cool blue retro car.

Yuko decides to visit Soichi after some time. Just as she was leaving for the airport, she receives a call from her uncle. Soichi has driven himself off the pier in a drunken stupor; after signing his divorce papers. The movie ends with Yuko crying aloud in the bathhouse. The cries of a lonely woman who has lost a loved one. Cries of a lonely human in a world which does not understand her and cannot accept her. Cries of a person who has to continue to live just for the sake of living.

I could not really understand why Soichi had to commit suicide at the end. Shiling pointed out to me that perhaps, this was the director's way of hinting that Soichi had a greater depression problem than Yuko. Plus his was more dangerous as he keeps it hidden.

This movie screening was really memorable too as the director Ryuichi was present for the screening:

All pictures courtesy of www.rottentomatoes.com