Brutal Hopelessness of Love (2007)

AKA: Hito Ga Hito O Ai Suru Koto No Doshiyo Mo Nasa
Directed by: Takashi Ishii
Starring: Mai Kitajima (Nami), Kanji Tsuda (Okano), Toshiyuki Nagashima (Yosuke)
Country: Japan; Effed Up Asian Cinema
Language: Japanese (Eng Subs); Effed Up Japanese Films
Runtime:
Genres: Gruesome, BDSM-Roleplay, Infidelity, Sexual-Violence against Men, Sexual-Violence against Women, Torture, Prostitution

Plot – Spoilers:
A popsinger-turned-actress, Nami’s career is on the uptrend. But not so much her marriage to a fellow actor. Her latest movie under production follows a storyline similar to hers. In it, her character Kyoko is also married to an actor who’s bored of her and cheating with a younger actress. We watch this movie-within-a-movie as Nami narrates its plot to a journalist. Things can get a bit too immersive at times, because there are other movies within this movie-within-a-movie, also featuring Nami and her irl actor husband.

And maybe there’s another layer to all of this. In the original sub-movie, Kyoko is lonely in her broken marriage and decides to deal with it by whoring herself to random strangers, who sometimes recognize her but are often kinky.

Early on, The Brutal Hopelessness of Love can plod along with what seems like too much verbalizing, but it picks up and is another little, perhaps unknown, gem from Takashi Ishii.