Part of the 2012 season: Whose Film Is It Anyway?

Heart, Beating In The Dark

Yamiutsu Shinzo

Director Shunichi Nagasaki

Cast Shigeru Muroi, Takashi Naito, Noriko Eguchi

2005/35mm/104min/Colour/English Subtitles

Image (c)

A middle-aged man, Ringo (Takashi Naito), gets a call from his ex-lover, Inako (Shigeru Muroi). They are going to have a reunion after 23 years.

A young couple, Toru (Shoichi Honda) and Yuki (Noriko Eguchi), arrive at an apartment originally owned by Toru’s friend and now managed by the friend’s divorced wife, Ritsuko (Kaori Mizushima). They are allowed to stay there just for one night. As they are running away from loan sharks, the small space is going to be a place to bring brief peaceful moments.

After meeting each other at Ringo’s electric appliance/repair shop, Ringo invites Inako to his apartment. Inako hesitates to visit there, but Ringo reveals he is living alone; his is in the process of filing a divorce and the only daughter is living with her mother.

When Toru leaves the room for a while, Yuki senses something in the room. She tells the experience to Toru, who does not believe it. Then some minor thing leads to set off Toru’s impulse to have a rough bout of sex with Yuki, as if to shake off something from their minds.

On the next day, Toru and Yuki steal Ritsuko’s car and head for a beach. Ringo and Inako are also driving towards the ocean. The 4 parallel lines cross on the beach and they talk with each other. And in the next morning, an incident happens…

Based on the 1982 film of the same name, which was considered at the time to be one of the best films to come out of Japan in that decade, this 2005 version was widely hailed as one of the most challenging films to come out of Japan that year.

Past screenings