In this intricately layered Japanese film, the nature of actresses and what they gain from acting is explored. The lives of three actresses are laid bare, and scenes from their lives are woven in and out of interviews with each of them. Each of them has experienced a traumatic event which contributes to their particular enjoyment of becoming someone else in dramatic roles.
Mariko Okada
Kyoko Ichimori
Ruriko Asaoka
Aki Kaido
Ineko Arima
Isaku Makiko
Rentaro Mikuni
Minakawa
Isao Kimura
Director Nose
Miyoko Akaza
Kyoko
Kiwako Taichi
Rie
Kazuko Inano
Kiriko Nose
Yumeji Tsukioka
Makiko's Mother
In this intricately layered Japanese film, the nature of actresses and what they gain from acting is explored. The lives of three actresses are laid bare, and scenes from their lives are woven in and out of interviews with each of them. Each of them has experienced a traumatic event which contributes to their particular enjoyment of becoming someone else in dramatic roles.
The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect of a better life.
Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, architect Ray Reardon and hypnotically sensual Lena are married with children. But as strange incidents occur, Ray begins to realize he may not really know the woman he married.
A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.
When a young man learns that his overbearing father is having an affair, he tries to stop it, only to be seduced by the older woman as well.
In a series of three vignettes, three women in turn struggle to free themselves from the men who restrict their personal freedom.
A tragedy strikes a young woman's life without warning or reason. She continues living while searching for meaning in a lonely world.
Two co-workers, one a vain woman and the other an awkward teenager, share an increasingly bizarre relationship after becoming roommates.
Tokyo schoolgirl Hiromi and her friends engage in a practice known as enjo kosai, or "compensated dating", where older men pay young girls for dates. Hiromi plunges deeper into this world to raise money for an expensive ring.
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.