Eros + Massacre 1969

The film centers on Sakae Osugi, Toshiyuki Hosokawa as the title figure, and his intricate relationships with three women: his wife Yasuko Hori, portrayed by Masako Yagi; his third lover Noe Itō, brought to life by Mariko Okada (and linked to her daughter Mako Ito); and his jealous second lover Itsuko Masaoka, played by Yūko Kusunoki, a militant feminist figure.

Parallel to this biographical thread, two students—Eiko Sokutai, depicted by Toshiko Ii, and Kenji Wada, portrayed by Daijirô Harada—delve into the political theories and ideas of free love that Osugi upheld. Their conversations, debates, and occasional re-enactments of lives led by revolutionaries blur the line between study and imagination, grounding the film in both intellect and emotion.

The narrative treats Osugi’s life as a living tapestry, weaving his later years and his death into the same framework explored by the students. The portrayal of Itsuko’s attempts to end his life is revisited multiple times, each version offering a different outcome and leaving the audience to ponder the fragility and intensity of the era’s passions. The 1920s segments progress with a tempo and musical language that contrast with the 1960s sections, creating a deliberate shift in mood and atmosphere that mirrors the changing social currents.

In the climactic moment, Eiko’s lover, a film director, commits suicide by hanging himself with a length of film, a stark and unsettling image that lingers in the viewer’s mind. As a final gesture, Eiko and Wada gather all of the 1920s characters for a group portrait before they leave the building, drawing the intertwined fates of past and present into a single, quiet exhale.