M

Japan, 2006. 110 min., 35 mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Hiroki Ryuichi. With Miwon, Kengo Kora, Tomorowo Taguchi, Nao Omori, Jiro Tawaro.

Suitable for 18 years and over.

With M, Hiroki has made a Belle de Jour for the post-postmodern age. A bored housewife, Satoko (Miwon), lives comfortably with her husband Hideyuki and her son Masato. One day she receives an email from a dating site and begins a double life as a prostitute. She soon attracts the attention of a young man named Minoru (Kengo Kora), who works as a paperboy. When Minoru’s friend shows him erotic pictures of non-professional women, he recognizes Satoko and sees in her eyes the same terrified look his mother had when his father beat her. He subsequently takes to trailing Satoko, and when he discovers she is being threatened by a yakuza (Tomorowo Taguchi), he is unable to hold back from stepping in to intervene. A psychotic drama with erotic overtones adapted from a novel by Seishu Hase, M covers Hiroki’s familiar obsession with people who follow their fantasies to the outer limits.

Part of the Globus Film Series: Love Will Tear Us Apart

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