A Touch of Fever
Directed byRyōsuke Hashiguchi
Written byRyōsuke Hashiguchi
Produced byAkira Ishigaki
StarringYoshihiko Hakamada
Masashi Endō
Reiko Kataoka
Sumiyo Yamada
CinematographyJun'ichi Tozawa
Edited byHiroshi Matsuo
Music byAkira Isono
Ryūji Murayama
Kōhei Shinozaki
Release dates
23 June 1993 (France)
4 September 1993 (Japan)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

A Touch of Fever (二十才の微熱, Hatachi no Binetsu, lit. Slight Fever of a 20-Year-Old) is a Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi, starring Yoshihiko Hakamada and Masashi Endō. It was released in 1993.

It was shot on 16 millimeter film with a small budget and no payment for the actors or the director.[1] It was awarded a PFF Scholarship (which supports the production of one film for theatrical release each year).[2] It was then screened in Berlin Film Festival.[3]

Plot

Tatsuru and Shinichirō are two young male hustlers in Japan. The older one, Tatsuru, disconnects himself from his emotions in order to perform his job. The younger Shinichirō, meanwhile, grows uncomfortable with the work once he has fallen in love with Tatsuru. After Shinichirō gets thrown out of his parents' house, he stays at Tatsuru's apartment, and their once casual relationship awkwardly develops into something else.

Cast

  • Yoshihiko Hakamada as Tatsuru Shimamori
  • Masashi Endō as Shinichirō Miyajima
  • Reiko Kataoka as Yoriko Suzuki
  • Sumiyo Yamada as Atsumi
  • Kōji Satō as Master
  • Bunmei Harada as Kawakubo
  • Kōta Kusano as Takashi
  • Yōichi Kawaguchi as Ōta
  • Hiroshi Okōchi as Customer
  • Tarō Ishida as Yoriko's Father
  • Wakaba Irie as Yoriko's Mother

Reception

Reaction in Japan

The film was a commercial success, surprising given its subject matter. It was nothing less than a breakthrough for real life gay-oriented films in Japan, as well as Okoge (1992) and Kira kira Hikaru (also known as Twinkle) in 1992.[3][4] The film also introduced the word 'gay' into Japanese society.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Mes, Tom (23 May 2002). "Ryosuke Hashiguchi". midnighteye.com. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  2. ↑ Jasper Sharp Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema, p. 199, at Google Books
  3. 1 2 David A. Gerstner (Editor) Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture, p. 261, at Google Books
  4. ↑ Mark J. McLelland Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan: Cultural Myths and Social Realities, p. 29, at Google Books


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