White Lily

White Lily (ホワイトリリー) is a 2016 Japanese drama film directed by Hideo Nakata. It was released by Nikkatsu as the fifth film in the reboot of its Roman Porno ("romantic pornography") series. Other directors involved in the series include Sion Sono, Akihiko Shiota, Kazuya Shiraishi, and Isao Yukisada.[1]

White Lily
Film poster
ホワイトリリー
Directed byHideo Nakata
Produced byNaoko Komuro
Saori Nishio
Kiyoe Takage
Masahiko Takahashi
Tadashi Tanaka
Akira Yamamoto
Keizō Yuri
Written byJun'ya Katō
Ryūta Miyake
StarringRin Asuka
Kaori Yamaguchi
Music byShūichi Sakamoto
CinematographyRyūto Kondō
Edited byNaoko Aono
Production
company
Distributed byNikkatsu
Release date
October 7, 2016 (Busan International Film Festival)
February 11, 2017 (Japan)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

Tokiko, a renowned ceramic artist, and her husband encounter Haruka, a teenage runaway, and take her into their home, where Tokiko teaches her about ceramics. When Tokiko's husband dies, Haruka promises to remain with her teacher and to do anything that she asks. They develop a lesbian relationship but Tokiko drowns her sorrows in alcohol and has a series of meaningless sexual encounters with a variety of men while Haruka can hear them in another room.

Tokiko eventually invites Satoru, a promising young student, to be her apprentice and initiates a sexual relationship with him, even though he tells her that he has a girlfriend. Satoru becomes interested in Haruka, who is the same age as he is, and aggressively flirts with her. Tokiko catches them and angrily accuses Haruka of liking men, forcing them to have sex on the table in front of her. Satoru's girlfriend Akane discovers them and grabs a large kitchen knife, threatening to kill herself. Satoru jumps at her and she cuts him with the knife. She then charges at Tokiko with the knife but Haruka jumps in front of Tokiko and is stabbed in the stomach.

At a future date, Haruka surprises Tokiko by returning to her atelier, where the two make love again.

Cast
  • Rin Asuka as Haruka
  • Kaori Yamaguchi as Tokiko / Ceramist
  • Shōma Machii as Satoru
  • Kanako Nishikawa as Akane / Satoru's girlfriend
  • Ichirō Mikami
  • Yuki Enomoto
  • Miki Hayashida
  • Kōko Itō
  • Tarō Kamakura
  • Hisako Matsuyama

Release

The film premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea on October 7, 2016,[2] and was later released in Japan on February 11, 2017.

Reception

James Marsh of the South China Morning Post gave the film 1.5/5 stars in a negative review in which he wrote that the director "fails to rise above plot's perfunctory soft core trappings in this unimaginatively told story of infatuation and jealousy".[3]

References
  1. "Antiporno [JIFF 2017] – Review".
  2. Maggie Lee. "Busan: A Critic Analyzes the Festival Lineup". Variety. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  3. "Film review: White Lily – Hideo Nakata's roman porno reboot is mere girl-on-girl titillation | South China Morning Post". scmp.com. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
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