Love Hotel

1985 1h 28m JA

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 32

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A call-girl named Yumi and Tetsuro, a married man with a debt to the yakuza, have a violent rendezvous in a cheap love hotel. Years later, haunted by the memory of that night, they reconnect and begin a strange love affair. Determined to finish what they started, they return to the scene of their first macabre passion.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Noriko Hayami
Nami Tsuchiya/'Yumi'
Minori Terada
Tetsuro Muraki
Kiriko Shimizu
Ryoko Muraki
Nobutaka Masutomi
Kiyoshi Ohta
Rie Nakagawa
Masayo Ohta
Masatô Ibu
Taxi Passenger
Toshinori Omi
Assistant Director
Koichi Sato
Taxi Driver

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Shinji Sōmai
Writers: Takashi Ishii
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

41 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Shinji Sōmai, shot by Noboru Shinoda. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Isao Tomita shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Noriko Hayami and Minori Terada and Kiriko Shimizu carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0089509 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 32 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Shinji Sōmai directs. Noboru Shinoda behind the camera. Isao Tomita cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
241 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Shinji Sōmai, shot by Noboru Shinoda. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Isao Tomita shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Noriko Hayami and Minori Terada and Kiriko Shimizu carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0089509 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 32 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
8Classified under 15 themes, including "suicide", "call girl", "blackmail", "yakuza".