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Undercurrent

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International Premiere

Rikiya Imaizumi’s haunting drama offers an uncommon take on a common problem: how can we know what’s truly inside the hearts and minds of others? As the film begins, Kanae (Yoko Maki) is reopening the bathhouse she shut down when her husband Satoru (Eita Nagayama) vanished without a trace. When Hori (Arata Iura) shows up looking for work, an uneasy companionship begins to form; meanwhile, private investigator Yamasaki (Lily Franky) is investigating Satoru’s disappearance. Gradually, it emerges that Kanae is a woman with two burdens: a mystery she can’t solve and a secret she doesn’t dare reveal. Adapting a manga by Tetsudo Toyoda, Rikiya crafts a film that asks for the viewer’s patience and rewards it amply: the leisurely pace, muted emotions, and psychological ambiguity are the perfect set-up for a series of stunning revelations. Contemplative, poetic, and deceptively casual, Undercurrent is provocative in the questions it asks and richly rewarding in the answers it provides.

 

Media Partner

Director
Cast

Yoko Maki, Arata Iura, Noriko Eguchi, Eita Nagayama, Lily Franky

Credits
Country of Origin

Japan

Year

2023

Series

Panorama

Language

Japanese

Film Contact
18+
144 min
Drama

Book Tickets

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Credits

Executive Producer

Kentaro Koike, Masahiro Handa

Producer

Kentaro KOIKE, Masahiro HANDA, Akihiro HIRAISHI

Screenwriter

Kaori Sawai, Rikiya Imaizumi

Cinematography

Hiroshi Iwanaga

Editor

Masaya Okazaki

Production Design

Yukihisa Satosu

Original Music

Haruomi Hosono

Director

Rikiya Imaizumi headshot

Rikiya Imaizumi

Born in Fukushima Prefecture in 1981, Rikiya Imaizumi made his directorial debut with the music documentary Tama no Eiga in 2010. Since his debut, he has continued to make love stories with a unique sensibility, Where Is Love (2018) was a smash hit in Japan, gaining tremendous support from young audiences. Little Nights, Little Love (2019) was selected in the competition of Shanghai International Film Festival 2019 and By the Window (2022) won Audience Award in Tokyo International Film Festival 2022.

Filmography: Where Is Love (2018); Little Nights, Little Love (2019); By the Window (2022)

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