Reviews

badelf

February 17, 2025
8.0
With this film (following Happy Hour), Hamaguchi cements his role as the ultimate diviner of the chaos of human emotion. Few other directors can navigate this terrain with the empathic thoroughness of Hamaguchi. In "Asako I & II", Hamaguchi explores love's most mercurial landscape through a narrative of uncanny resemblance and emotional displacement. The film's subtle genius lies in its exploration of how we construct and reconstruct romantic narratives. A pivotal moment occurs in Shigeo Gocho's photography exhibition, where Asako contemplates a photograph of what appear to be identical twins. This visual meditation becomes a metaphorical key to the film's deeper inquiry: Are we loving individuals, or projections of our own emotional needs? Baku and Ryohei - two men who look remarkably alike but represent radically different emotional territories - become less characters than psychological states. They are what Asako draws to herself via the power of attraction. The truth about the title is that Asako is the real doppelganger, albeit internally. Erika Karata (Asako) does an amazing job conveying her internal pas de deux. Hamaguchi suggests that romantic attachment is less about the specific person and more about our internal emotional choreography. His real directorial brilliance is his refusal to judge - which we will see again in "Drive My Car" - creating a nuanced exploration of how memory, desire, and perception intertwine to create what we call love.

Recommendation Movies

7.5
Crime
View
7.5
Vengeance Is Mine
Vengeance Is Mine1979
7.4
Documentary
View
7.4
Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars
Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars2018
5.6
Drama
View
5.6
Toilet
Toilet2010
6.6
Drama
View
6.6
We Couldn't Become Adults
We Couldn't Become Adults2021
7.3
Drama
View
7.3
Fox and His Friends
Fox and His Friends1975
7.6
Comedy
View
7.6
Drifting Clouds
Drifting Clouds1996
6.4
Romance
View
6.4
Radiance
Radiance2017
7.2
Comedy
View
7.2
Murder She Said
Murder She Said1961
7.3
Drama
View
7.3
The Spy Gone North
The Spy Gone North2018
7.4
Comedy
View
7.4
Pad Man
Pad Man2018
6
Thriller
View
6
School's Out
School's Out2018
7
Animation
View
7
Cinderella the Cat
Cinderella the Cat2017
6.4
Action
View
6.4
BLAME!
BLAME!2017
7.7
Crime
View
7.7
The Big Heat
The Big Heat1953
6.8
Crime
View
6.8
Ash Is Purest White
Ash Is Purest White2018
7.4
Music
View
7.4
Leto
Leto2018
7.3
Drama
View
7.3
The Asadas!
The Asadas!2020
6.4
Music
View
6.4
Let's Dance
Let's Dance2019
6.7
Thriller
View
6.7
Frantic
Frantic1988
© 2025 MoovieTime. All rights reserved.Made with Nuxt