About Guilty of Romance

GUILTY OF ROMANCE — the new crime noir from punk provocateur and rising star of Japanese cinema, Sion Sono (LOVE EXPOSURE, COLD FISH) — is the dramatic account of the lives of three women as seen through the looking glass of sex, words, madness, death, and family. Set just before the turn of the 21st century, a grisly murder occurs in Maruyama-cho, Shibuya, a love hotel district. Whilst the police investigate, the story interweaves with that of Izumi, the wife of a famous romantic novelist whose life has become staid and repetitious. In act of blatant sexual rebellion Izumi accepts a job as a naked model, faking sex in front of the camera. Her sexual awakening takes a darker turn after she meets Mitsuko, – a college professor who moonlights as a prostitute – and begins selling her body to the highest bidder, while at home maintaining the façade of a proper subservient Japanese housewife. Bombarding the audience with graphic images and assaulting the emotions with classical music, Sion Sono has produced a movie that provokes all your senses, blending genres of film noir with drama and mystery, and showcasing the directors trademark style and use of vivid colour to portray emotion and mood, GUILTY OF ROMANCE is the final and most exhilarating part of Sono’s “Hate” trilogy.

“An intense journey of liberation and destruction through sexual transgression…Bold and brutal”

The Huffington Post