Ryusuke Hamaguchi (born 16 December 1978) is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Hamaguchi, a graduate of Tokyo University and Tokyo University of Arts, attracted attention in his country with the movie Passion (2008), which he shot for his graduation. Hamaguchi first gained international recognition with the film Happy Hour (2015) and followed it up with Asako I & II (2018). He released two films in 2021, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and Drive My Car, receiving three Academy Award nominations for the latter, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best International Feature. He is the third Japanese director to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Director.
Drama
Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to drive his car. In between rides, secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions will be unveiled.
7.42021
Drama · Romance
An unexpected love triangle, a seduction trap, and a random encounter are the three episodes, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.
7.22021
Drama
Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to nature.
6.82023
Drama · Romance
Asako lives in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku, a free-spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and meets Ryohei. He looks just like Baku, but has a completely different personality.
6.82018
Drama · War
It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a game in which she enigmatically conceals her intentions.
6.72020
Drama
Four women in their thirties reevaluate their relationships, both shared and private, after a startling revelation concerning one's marriage forces each of them to ask one of life's biggest questions: "Am I who I want to be?"
7.42015
An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.
7.11953
Drama
Director of a care facility for the elderly, Marie-Lou strives to introduce an innovative care philosophy based on listening and respecting residents’ dignity, despite resistance from part of her staff. Her encounter with Mari, a Japanese theater director battling cancer, will profoundly reshape her path. By forming a deep, supportive friendship, the two women join forces in a shared struggle to make the impossible possible.
8.02026
Drama
A young couple's announcement of their engagement to their friends is followed by a series of interactions and conflicts that forces everyone to reflect on their lives.
6.32008
Drama · Fantasy
Yuzo and Mitsuki live together in Yuzo's small apartment, their constant companionship tender and indifferent in turn. Then Yuzo receives a call from Satsuki, a documentarian resolved to make a film about a now-distant family tragedy, and the three meet, to search for some way to account for their relationship with one another, the memories they share, and those they've kept to themselves.
6.62016
Drama
Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to drive his car. In between rides, secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions will be unveiled.
7.42021
Drama · Romance
An unexpected love triangle, a seduction trap, and a random encounter are the three episodes, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.
7.22021
Drama
Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to nature.
6.82023
Drama · Romance
Asako lives in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku, a free-spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and meets Ryohei. He looks just like Baku, but has a completely different personality.
6.82018
Drama · War
It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a game in which she enigmatically conceals her intentions.
6.72020
Drama
Four women in their thirties reevaluate their relationships, both shared and private, after a startling revelation concerning one's marriage forces each of them to ask one of life's biggest questions: "Am I who I want to be?"
7.42015
Drama
Director of a care facility for the elderly, Marie-Lou strives to introduce an innovative care philosophy based on listening and respecting residents’ dignity, despite resistance from part of her staff. Her encounter with Mari, a Japanese theater director battling cancer, will profoundly reshape her path. By forming a deep, supportive friendship, the two women join forces in a shared struggle to make the impossible possible.
8.02026
Drama
A young couple's announcement of their engagement to their friends is followed by a series of interactions and conflicts that forces everyone to reflect on their lives.
6.32008
Drama · Fantasy
Yuzo and Mitsuki live together in Yuzo's small apartment, their constant companionship tender and indifferent in turn. Then Yuzo receives a call from Satsuki, a documentarian resolved to make a film about a now-distant family tragedy, and the three meet, to search for some way to account for their relationship with one another, the memories they share, and those they've kept to themselves.
6.62016
Drama · Mystery
After his parents die, a teenager goes to live with his older brother. As his loneliness grows, he becomes engrossed in practicing modern dance with his classmate.
Drama
After a failed wedding shoot, Bae-hwan meets Ryu—a callboy tangled in a murder case—and offers him a way out.
5.62011
Drama
Hamaguchi wrote and directed this film as a graduation project for the students at ENBU Seminar (film and theater school in Tokyo) when he taught there. It is a three-part film: The first part is a documentary-style production of a play; Then the actual full stage production of the play; and the epilogue. Poetry and written words play the central role in the movie.
6.92013
Drama
Some youths interact at a bar, a horse race and a bowling alley. A girl who has been visiting from out of town ,on her train ride back, reads aloud a list of vocabulary definitions from a dictionary.
6.82003
Drama · Romance
While the wedding day should be blissful for the bride, Eiko, there is a secret that she can’t tell her fiance...
5.72009
Documentary
Spanning locations in Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Hokkaido and featuring interviews with cast members and rare behind-the-scenes footage, it captures the creative collective journey of the filmmaking team.
An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.
7.11953
Talk
As long as there is cinema, LE CERCLE will be there. It is the only television program of critical debates 100% devoted to cinema. Each week, it offers fiery, joyful and non-condescending jousts on the films on the bill; and invites with "Le questionnaire du CERCLE" directors to come and share their passion for cinema.
2005
Drama
A maiden work by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and the origin to his later masterpieces “Passion” (2008), the 255 minute long “Intimacies” (2012), and the 317 minute long “Happy Hour” (2015). The unusual, usual life and the ever wandering souls of 5 young men and women, captured on 8mm film.
6.02003
Drama · Sci-Fi
Shot while the director was still in college, the film is a remake of the Russian film of the same name. The man's dead ex who had committed suicide appears in front of him. The ghost has a cross-like scar on her wrist.
4.02007
Documentary
The third part of a trilogy focusing on the Tohoku region that is comprised of dialogues with victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Ideas on how to share experiences of the disaster with future generations, a challenge touched upon in the previous films The Sound of Waves and Voices from the Waves, is found in folk tales from the region. Co-directed by Sakai Ko and Hamaguchi Ryusuke.
3.02013
Documentary
The first part of a trilogy focusing on the northeast Tohoku region, co-directed by Sakai Ko and Hamaguchi Ryusuke. Impromptu interviews were carried out with disaster victims mainly along the Sanriku Coast, which had been ravaged by tsunamis several times prior to the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, and makes emotional discoveries within dialogues between close-knit people including families and workmates.
7.02012
Drama
We follow Takumi and his daughter who lead a modest life in the village in the middle of nature. One day Takumi receives word that there are plans to build a glamping site near his home. The discovery that wastewater will be piped into the village’s water source not only causes unrest among the residents, but also affects Takumi’s life.
9.02023
Mari's quiet everyday life falls apart when she meets a mysterious boy. Her uncle returns after a long absence and tells her that earth is under alien control and that Mari is half human and half alien, while the strange boy confesses that he is trying to escape because he has stolen the key to liberate human beings from Mari's alien uncle. Mari, who only half believes their stories, meets her sister though she is not supposed to have one. Where is Mari heading for in her upside-down life?
2008
