With his latest film, the Cannes prizewinner DRIVE MY CAR, currently garnering acclaim, Ryusuke Hamaguchi is fast emerging as one of contemporary Japanese cinema’s most vital and original voices. His international breakthrough, HAPPY HOUR, is a sprawling, absorbingly novelistic portrait of the intersecting lives of four female friends navigating the ups and downs of their thirties, while ASAKO I & II is a bracingly mysterious, subtly surreal romance that finds the filmmaker pushing his interest in the intricacies of human relationships into surprising new territory.
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi • 2015 • Japan
Starring Sachie Tanaka, Hazuki Kikuchi, Maiko Mihara
A powerful affirmation of the immersive potential of cinema, HAPPY HOUR is a slow-burning epic chronicling the emotional journey of four thirtysomething women in the misty seaside city of Kobe, Japa...
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi • 2018 • Japan
Starring Masahiro Higashide, Erika Karata, Rio Yamashita
A mysterious and intoxicating pop romance, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to the acclaimed HAPPY HOUR begins with Asako (Erika Karata) meeting and falling madly in love with a drifter, Baku (Masa...
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi • 2021 • Japan
Starring Kotone Furukawa, Ayumu Nakajima, Hyunri
An unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction, and a chance encounter with the past. Propelled by coincidence and imagination, and guided by love’s gentle current, acclaimed director Ryusuke Hamaguchi...
