Passion (2008) (Blu Ray) (Film Movement) (English Subtitled) (US Version)

When Kaho (Aoba Kawai) and Tomoya (Ryuta Okamoto) announce their engagement at a celebratory dinner with friends, they are unprepared for the emotional turmoil that is unleashed once a prior infidelity comes to light. Later that evening, Tomoya is invited to the apartment of his former classmate, Takako (Fusako Urabe), leading to further revelations of passion and indiscretion. The debut theatrical feature from one of today's preeminent auteurs, PASSION displays Ryusuke Hamaguchi's rich and nuanced insight into modern relationships while establishing the thematic foundations for his later films such as HAPPY HOUR, WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY, and the Oscar-winning DRIVE MY CAR.

Like certain influential early career films that preceded it ― Barry Levinson’s “Diner,” Lawrence Kasdan’s “The Big Chill” ― “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. --Austin Considine, The New York Times

Hamaguchi’s script offers florid arias of confrontation and self-revelation; in his striking repertoire of visual compositions, including flurries of urgent closeups and thrillingly panoramic long takes, the poised and assertive actors seem to fill not just the screen but the city itself with his prose. --Richard Body, The New Yorker

Passion already finds Hamaguchi to be a superb orchestrator of moods and tones --Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine