Nihon NY – Episode 26: Love Will Tear Us Apart

Bad romance, blind love, amour fou! This spring, we screen a series of twisted, obsessive, heart-blazing love stories from Japan and Korea, because, after all, it takes two to tango and at least two to tumble. The 20+ film lineup, mostly from the past decade, includes the U.S. premiere of Shinya Tsukamoto’s latest film, KOTOKO, and the world premiere of Koji Wakamatsu’s Petrel Hotel Blue, as well as Hirokazu Kore’eda’s Air Doll, Nagisa Oshima’s arch-classic In the Realm of the Senses, Yukio Ninagawa’s Snakes and Earrings, Lee Sang-il’s Villain, Lee Chang-dong’s Oasis, and Kim Ki-duk’s Bad Guy, among other twisted tales. The complex relationship between Korea and Japan provides a fascinating coupling of national cinematic identities. Although both Japanese and Korean films and filmmakers demonstrate their own unique preoccupations, narrative traditions, structures and cultural sensibilities, a considerable amount of shared ground leads directly to unique avenues of artistic collaboration (Korean actress Bae Doo-Na and director Hirokazu Kore’eda, Kim Ki-duk and Joe Odagiri), ultimately revealing a similar visual grammar and inclination towards the emotional violence that flows beneath the quiet surface of societal restraints.