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6.8/10
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21 user 97 critic

Guilty of Romance (2011)

Koi no tsumi (original title)
A grisly murder occurs in Maruyama-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo - a love hotel district - a woman was found dead in a derelict apartment. Kazuko (Miki Mizuno) is a police officer called to ... See full summary »

Director:

Sion Sono

Writers:

Mizue Kunizane (story), Sion Sono (screenplay)
1 win & 1 nomination. See more awards »

Photos

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Cast

Credited cast:
Miki Mizuno Miki Mizuno ... Kazuko Yoshida
Makoto Togashi Makoto Togashi ... Mitsuko Ozawa
Megumi Kagurazaka ... Izumi Kikuchi
Kazuya Kojima Kazuya Kojima ... Shoji
Satoshi Nikaido Satoshi Nikaido ... Masao Yoshida (as Satoshi Nikaidô)
Ryûju Kobayashi Ryûju Kobayashi ... Kaoru
Shingo Gotsuji Shingo Gotsuji ... Kazuo Kimura
Motoki Fukami Motoki Fukami ... Maki Martini
Chika Uchida Chika Uchida ... Eri Doi
Marie Machida Marie Machida ... Mari (as Marî Machida)
Ryô Iwamatsu Ryô Iwamatsu ... Supermarket manager
Hisako Ôkata Hisako Ôkata ... Shizu Ozawa
Kanji Tsuda Kanji Tsuda ... Yukio Kikuchi
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cynthia Cheston ... Prostitute
Mae Otsuka Mae Otsuka ... (as Mae Ohtsuka)
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Storyline

A grisly murder occurs in Maruyama-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo - a love hotel district - a woman was found dead in a derelict apartment. Kazuko (Miki Mizuno) is a police officer called to investigate on this case, she will discover the story of two women who, despite appearing respectable on the outside have all manner of darkness hidden away. Written by Anonymous

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

Love Is Hell.

Genres:

Drama | Horror | Romance

Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The story is loosely based on the 1997 murder of Yasuko Watanabe, who was a senior economic researcher at TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company), but was also a prostitute at night in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. See more »

Connections

Referenced in ARfRA: Why are Japanese films so extreme? (2018) See more »

Soundtracks

Tombeau pour Monsieur de Lully
Written by Marin Marais
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User Reviews

 
Unusual story of murder
27 October 2012 | by ebiros2See all my reviews

What's striking about the movie is the murder at the opening scene. A woman's body was found that was cut in half, and decapitated. The missing parts were arranged with parts from a mannequin. Then the story shifts to the life of Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka) who's a new house wife of a novel writer. Her husband is a perfectionist, and demands her to be so as well. But when she finds a part time job at the super market, things starts to change in her life.

Story is an adaptation of murder of Yasuko Watanabe (description in Wikipedia) by director, and screen writer Shion Sono that occurred in 1997.

The movie to me had two phases. First half was about Izumi, and the way she gets duped into the shady side of society. The second part is the horrible truth about Mitsuko (Makoto Togashi), and the truth about who's body it was that was found at the beginning of the movie.

The first part of the movie was beautiful, but the second part of the movie was gruesome. First part was well made, but I couldn't get into the second part. Mitsuko's character lacked authenticity, and her social background improbable.

So otherwise it was a fine movie, but there was no story towards the end (Mitsuko's life seemed forced, just to justify the plot). I wish the quality was consistent throughout the entire movie.


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Frequently Asked Questions

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

12 November 2011 (Japan) See more »

Also Known As:

Guilty of Romance See more »

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Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$246,091
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Production Co:

Django Film, Nikkatsu See more »
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Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (international)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
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