Eros + Massacre

Almost unanimously acclaimed as Yoshida’s masterpiece, this tour de force is a daring analysis of sex, politics, revolution and art in modern Japan that shifts back and forth in time. On the one hand we have the 1910s anarchist and advocate of free love, Osugi Sakae, and his relationship with three women, on the other a 1960s couple of student radicals. The struggle between male logic and female passion and the friction between the 1910s and the actuality of the late 1960s converge into an instant of massacre. Past and present intermingle: actors walk from one time zone into another. Instead of one ‘historical reality’, various versions are enacted, underlining that there is no objectivity whatsoever. A long and complex film, but the inspiring content and enchanting cinematography ensure a most rewarding experience and have made Eros + Massacre into one of the highlights of Japanese post-war cinema. Yoshida’s first film to be screened outside Japan.

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