Passion

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1:55

Passion

2023

1h 55m

Drama

Romance

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11 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

A remarkable sophomore feature from one of today's preeminent auteurs. Ryusuke Hamaguchi's PASSION, his thesis project at Tokyo University of the Arts, lays the thematic foundations for what would become his internationally renowned body of work. Already trading in his recurrent themes of contemporary alienation and unrequited desire and catalyzing what would become lasting collaborations with actors such as Fusako Urabe, (WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY) PASSION exemplifies the wellspring of Hamaguchi's rich and nuanced vivisection of relationships in the 21st century. Following a couple, Kaho (Aoba Kawai, also of WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY) and Tomoya (Ryuta Okamoto), whose engagement announcement among friends reveals a prior infidelity, Hamaguchi infuses the pairs subsequent reckoning and devolution with characteristic emotional clarity that culminates in a devastating finale.

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Namrata Joshi

The New Indian Express

Jun 8, 2023

Passion ultimately is like an enquiry that brings a specific movement in relationships to a conclusion at a given juncture, but hints at things still being in a circular formation—being, becoming, unravelling, and collapsing to start all over again.

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Austin Considine

New York Times

Apr 13, 2023

“Passion” has a low-fi, hangout feel, flush with the youthful indie energy and forgivable pretensions of an artist who believes that filmmaking matters. Hamaguchi is still a student but already finding his voice.

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Chuck Bowen

Slant Magazine

Apr 9, 2023

3/4

Passion already finds Hamaguchi Ryûsuke to be a superb orchestrator of moods and tones.

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Jericho Tadeo

MovieWeb

Jul 12, 2024

Passion effectively historicizes its director's curiosities as a young filmmaker...essentially providing a time travel-trail of bread crumbs of the themes and ideas that would continue to pop up in his later films.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 19, 2023

3/4

Gender stereotypes, acknowledgement of self-worth, and resistance to the demands of adulthood are some of the issues examined in this thoughtful drama.

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Kathy Fennessy

Video Librarian Magazine

Nov 11, 2023

3/5

For all its imperfections...the film is remarkably self-assured for a thesis project. Over the next decade, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi would make great strides, but Passion proves he was a gifted filmmaker right from the start.

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Steve C

@RT19610513 May 20, 2024

Relationships can be a confusing mess. Without faithful commitment and forgiveness, there can be no enduring relationship

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Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Director

Aoba Kawai

Kaho

Ryuta Okamoto

Tomoya

Fusako Urabe

Actor

Nao Okabe

Actor

Kiyohiko Shibukawa

Actor

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Synopsis

A remarkable sophomore feature from one of today's preeminent auteurs. Ryusuke Hamaguchi's PASSION, his thesis project at Tokyo University of the Arts, lays the thematic foundations for what would become his internationally renowned body of work. Already trading in his recurrent themes of contemporary alienation and unrequited desire and catalyzing what would become lasting collaborations with actors such as Fusako Urabe, (WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY) PASSION exemplifies the wellspring of Hamaguchi's rich and nuanced vivisection of relationships in the 21st century. Following a couple, Kaho (Aoba Kawai, also of WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY) and Tomoya (Ryuta Okamoto), whose engagement announcement among friends reveals a prior infidelity, Hamaguchi infuses the pairs subsequent reckoning and devolution with characteristic emotional clarity that culminates in a devastating finale.

Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Producer: Satoshi Fujii
Screenwriter: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Distributor: Film Movement
Production Co: Tokyo University of the Arts
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 14, 2023, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $10.8K
Runtime: 1h 55m

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