Ryûsuke Hamaguchi	...	(Director)
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi	...	(Writer)
Aoba Kawai	...
Nao Okabe	...
Ryuta Okamoto	...
Kiyohiko Shibukawa	...
Fusako Urabe	...
Yûichi Yuzawa	...	Cinematographer
Ryôko Yamamoto	...	Editor

Comments: Another Hamaguchi "Actor's Workshop"

This was his graduate thesis film and explores the themes he will continue to explore: characters exploring the unexplored in/of their lives. But he doesn't get there until the second half. The first half is setup, introducing us to the characters as they give each other 'noogies' and such, trying to be ordinary people

Then a discourse about violence marks a turning point, mirroring the arc of the film. It starts off rather pedestrian and ends really well, and it sets the film in motion. These ordinary people begin their actor's workshop. They go deep into themselves and others to reveal what they conceal and conceal what they reveal.

I love this stuff

It's remarkable how the low budget feel of the first half disappears, the soundtrack gets better, and the characters really shine. Hamaguchi is in his wheelhouse in the second half. I imagine the second half was the film he wanted to make and just needed to ... 'get there'

If you like Hamaguchi you'll love the second half of this film

Summary: A young couple announces their wedding at a party with friends. The reactions of the latter reveal hitherto unexpressed sentimental flaws within the group. The following days, the tension rises to the surface.