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
Yoko Maki, Arata Iura, Noriko Eguchi, Eita Nagayama, Lily Franky
Japan
2023
Panorama
Japanese
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
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
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)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Schindler Space Architect
RM Schindler is now recognized as one of the most important modernist architects of the era, the man who laid the groundwork for what is now considered the epitome of California indoor-outdoor living. This doc sheds light on a previously unsung genius.
90s Mystery Movie + Trivia Night
And now for a shot in the dark... We're not announcing the Mystery Movie in advance, so you'll have to take a leap of faith. We can say it was released between January 1990 and January 2000, and it's not already showing elsewhere in this series. As an added enticement we're going to throw in a 90s movie trivia night with your ticket — plus prizes!
Lone Star
John Sayles's modern day Western is a murder mystery which draws sheriff Chris Cooper to investigate two of his predecessors, the notoriously corrupt Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), and his own father, Buddy (Matthew McConaughey).
Fargo
Have the Coen brothers ever made a more satisfying movie than Fargo? This grisly comedy pits one of cinema's most pure-hearted cops (Frances McDormand's pregnant cop, Marge Gunderson) against the machinations of weak and mercenary men.