Asako I & II(HKAFF 2018)

In Competition, Cannes Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

Director Hamaguchi Ryusuke follows his five-hour opus Happy Hour with a stirring and dreamy romantic drama that comes with a provocative Vertigo-esque twist. Based on the novel by Shibasaki Tomoka, the Cannes competition title follows the romantic misadventures of Asako, a student from Osaka who falls in love at first sight with Baku, a mysterious bad boy. Two years after Baku’s sudden disappearance, the brokenhearted Asako moves to Tokyo. There, she meets Ryuhei, a kind and reliable company employee who looks exactly like Baku but carries none of his reckless personality. Suddenly, Asako finds herself caught between two loves, each irresistible in her own way.