Hush! (2002)

Asako is a lonely woman, who tries to forget that feeling by sleeping with various men. At some point in live, she realizes that she won't get the warmth she is looking for by doing that, so she wants to find a man who will make her pregnant. The one she decides on is the gay Katsuhiro, who just found a boyfriend, Naoya. Naoya doesn't know why the woman would want to have child by a gay guy. He also doesn't understand why Katsuhiro would want a child, since he is gay and will never have one. During the film, the three of them have to overcome some test and the opinion of society.

The story is basically about the social structure of Japan, about three people seeking warmth in that society and about intimacy. While it is a serious theme, there are many comedic elements in it. Not in the usual Japanese comedy style, but just situations that turn out funny or strange and that will make you laugh because it's genuinely funny, not because it's overacted or crazy. The whole story idea is actually cute, only the ending a bit too serious for the rest of the movie.

The characters are lovable and I really like how they portrayed the relationship to the family members or how the relationship between the gay couple and Asako develops. It was all nicely paced and I enjoyed watching the movie. They have some bed scenes in it, so the movie is not for the younger audience, but it's discretely done, so it should be fine to watch it, if you know that they are in there somewhere.

I gave this movie 4* because I wasn't too fond of the ending. But if you want to see a serious film, like gays and want to learn about Japanese society, this will be your movie!

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A hidden gem

The movie is not without problems (as I will elaborate bellow), but it has many qualities which make it superior to other 2000's lgbt-themed Japanese movies, and even some of the more recent ones.

Story - the films deals with several issues within both the queer and heteronormative communities in modern Japanese society, such as parenthood, familial relations in general, balancing one's personal life & career, coming out and more. However, I think some of the subplots should have been cut, as the final result is both long (more than 2 hours) and somewhat incoherent at times. The roles of certain side characters (such as Naoya's mother) could have been easily transferred to other characters, too.

Acting - Nothing bad to say here. Katsuhiro and Naoya were much more believable as a couple than most of the Japanese BL couples we have seen recently. The actress who played Asako did a wonderful job too.

Would probably watch it again, even just in order to try and spot details I missed at first.

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