Haruhiko Arai Movies

Internationally acclaimed Japanese film director Ryuichi Hiroki (I Am an S&M Writer, Tokyo Trash Baby) takes the helm for this cathartic road movie concerning the transformative journey of an emotionally-unstable writer and adapted from the novel by Mari Akasaka. Rei (Shinobu Terashima) is a freelance writer whose inner demons have driven her to self-medicate. It's during one of her late-night beer-runs to a local urban mini-mart that Rei makes the acquaintance of handsome young trucker Okabe (Nao Omori) - who has taken a momentary pit stop to fill up his tank and grab some snacks. After the two form a friendly bond in the late night hours where anything seems possible, Rei climbs into Okabe's rig for an impromptu road trip that will lead her to find out more about herself than she would ever learn while sitting home and drinking alone. As the dawn draws near on the edge of the horizon, what at first appeared to be a one-night stand gradually transforms into a momentous meeting of chance. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Sekiya (Akira Emoto) is a former 1960s radical turned screenwriter. As of late, Sekiya has been suffering through a spate of bad luck: his wife dumped him and his stock in the Tokyo film industry has gone through the floor. Lately, the only jobs he has been able to scrounge up is editing children's textbooks and housesitting for his longtime friend, Okamoto (Eiji Okada). A professor of Japanese literature, Okamoto has fared better over the years. He has even been invited to teach at a prestigious school in New York, though his marriage with his strong-willed wife Aya (Rina Katase) is on the rocks. She is less than thrilled at the prospect of uprooting and tending after her needy husband. She eventually agrees to go, but only grudgingly. While performing his housesitting duties, Sekiya receives a surprise visitor,Reiko (Eiko Nagashima), a friend who is helping out at Aya's coffee shop while she's away. Never married, Reiko finds the hangdog eyes of Sekiya attractive and soon they are rolling around in the master bedroom. Just then, Aya returns home, unable to stand New York or her husband. Back in the 1960s, Aya and Sekiya were a couple, until he was hauled off to jail for his radical activities. Aya seduced Okamoto, who in turn dumped his steady Reiko. Since then, Aya and Okamoto have been nudging Reiko and Sekiya together. This time around, Aya is eager to put the moves on Sekiya. Okamoto soon returns and seduces Reiko. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

In this rambling story about life in the slow lanes, a couple get married and while the wife wanders off for awhile, several small, unrelated incidents occur, and then she comes back. Yasu (Tsunehiko Watase) meets Mayumi (Masako Natsume) when she visits his curiosity shop and their initial attraction develops into a live-in love affair. When Mayumi leaves for awhile, the scene shifts to a small bar that exchanges hands, the remembrances of a dry-cleaner, and a woman who spends one night with Yasu before she leaves to get married, then Mayumi returns and life in the curiosity shop is back to normal. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Though this film is unlikely to find a wide audience in America, Akai Kami No Onna was ranked fourth in prestigious film journal Kinema Jumpo's annual ten best list in 1979, and Junko Miyashita, an icon of Japan's popular softcore films, garnered a best actress award. Director Tatsumi Kumashiro gives us an intimate portrait of the film's central character set against a working-class background. Miyashita plays a hitchhiker picked up by a truck driver (Renji Ishibashi) who takes her back to his rundown hovel. Claiming that she is running away from her husband, she moves in with the trucker and proceeds to engage in a grueling routine of non-stop sex -- until her violent ex-boyfriend pays an unexpected visit. This film is considered one of the finest movies in the Nikku Roman Porno genre. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi