Guilty of Romance

Set just before the turn of the 21st century a grisly murder occurs in Maruyama-cho Shibuya the sordid love hotel district of Tokyo. During the police investigation the story interweaves with that of Izumi the wife of a famous romantic novelist whose life has become staid and repetitious. In an 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 simultaneously maintaining the facade of a proper subservient Japanese housewife at home. Guilty of Romance: the film of punk provocateur and rising star of Japanese cinema, Sion Sono is the dramatic account of the lives of two women as they traverse a whirlwind of sex, madness and death. (Monster Pictures)