X
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Grasshopper Film
- 1 h 59 m
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Grasshopper Film
- 1 h 59 m
Summary One day Asako’s first love suddenly disappears. Two years later, she meets his perfect double.
Directed By: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Written By: Tomoka Shibasaki, Sachiko Tanaka, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Grasshopper Film
- 1 h 59 m
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Grasshopper Film
- 1 h 59 m
Asako I & II
69
7.3
Where to Watch
Summary One day Asako’s first love suddenly disappears. Two years later, she meets his perfect double.
Directed By: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Written By: Tomoka Shibasaki, Sachiko Tanaka, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
69
70% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
25% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
5% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
69
70% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
25% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
5% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
There are moments of real beauty in the film, which is an unassuming and contemplative excursion into how we love, and why. But like the fireworks that greet Asako and Baku’s first kiss, its pop is a modest one.
Asako proceeds from a premise that flirts with the mystic, but Hamaguchi executes it with elegantly rendered realism. (It is adapted from a 2010 novel by Tomoka Shibasaki.) The result is a picture that is simultaneously engaging and disconcerting.
The movie keeps you guessing, mostly in pleasure, at both its meanings and its methods.
Higashide effortlessly switches between the two polar-opposite men, both utterly convincing.
To be clear: Asako I & II is not a bad movie, just one that doesn't convey much beyond its creators' intentions. There are moments of poetic beauty scattered throughout, like the few scenes that don't push the otherwise cloud-light plot along.
This strange, deliberately naïve film plunges a high-concept romance into a banal, lifeless world.
Asako’s only appeal seems to be that she’s very pretty. Her depth of character she apparently keeps to herself.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 User Ratings
7.3
60% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
40% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 User Ratings
7.3
60% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
40% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
C&I Entertainment,
Bitters End,
Comme des Cinémas,
Elephant House,
Nagoya Broadcasting Network (Nagoya TV),
Netemo Sametemo Production Committee
Release Date May 17, 2019
Duration 1 h 59 m
Rating Not Rated
Awards
International Cinephile Society Awards
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Tama Cinema Forum
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
International Cinephile Society (ICS) Cannes Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
