S H O W I N G N E X T
LOVE LIFE - MON 15th APRIL, 2024 - 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Production year: 2022
Country: Japan
Cert (UK): 12A
Runtime: 2hrs 3 mins
Genre: Drama
Language: Japanese
Original Title: Love Life
Director: Koji Fukada
Cast: Fumino Kimura, Kento Nagayama, Atom Sunada
AWARDS
Venice Film Festival 2022: Nominated Best Film
Tromso Intl Film Awards 2023: Nominated Aurora Award
Munich Film Festival: Nominated Best Intl. Film
Online Critics Society Awards 2023: Nominated Best Non-US Release
Showing at: Ventnor Arts Club.
Tickets: £6 cash only on the door.
Booking: by email to
ventnorfilmsociety@hotmail.com
Ice Creams on Sale!
Love Life is a poignant and heart-rending human drama about the challenges of modern family life, blending sorrow with a dark, understated comedy.
The story follows Taeko and her husband Jiro, who live peacefully in a small apartment with her young son Keita, a promising board game champion. Taeko and her son had been abandoned by the boy's father, a Korean expatriate named Park. Jiro too has a complicated life, as he left his long-term partner for Taeko. They are still living in his parents' apartment, despite their disapproval of the new living arrangements.
Beneath the happy surface of their lives lurk deep-rooted family tensions, unspoken secrets and growing jealousies, that threaten their young marriage.
When Taeko hosts a birthday party for her father-in-law, a terrible tragedy takes place that will shatter the family forever.
The aftermath brings the boy's long-lost father, Park, storming angrily back into her life. Park is a difficult and damaged man, homeless, deaf and deeply grief-stricken.
Elements of mystery and domestic drama are finely blended into a narrative that explores the complexity of relationships and the human capacity for change. Love Life is a thought-provoking and emotional film that delves into the intricate layers of grief, love and self-discovery.
To book, please email ventnorfilmsociety@hotmail.com.
The Critics Say...
"It’s a solid, sensitively handled study of the aftermath of a trauma, elevated by tricky, unexpected revelations about Park." Wendy Ide, The Observer ***
"An enormously poignant melodrama told at the volume of a broken whisper, Kōji Fukada’s “Love Life” represents a major breakthrough for a filmmaker who’s found the perfect story for his probing but distant style.." David Ehrich, Indiewie ****
"It is a rich, varied meal of a film." Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian ****
"A beautifully wrought story of life after tragedy." Lovia Guyarke, Hollywood Reporter