Egoist

Ignore the terrible title. Yes, it's a gay movie but then it's not. The "selfish" protagonist finds more than lust and truly and surprisingly finds himself as the movie ends. It's one of the best films I've seen in a while and deeply touched me. Great script and wonderful performances. The director might have used fewer close up, but that's a minor quibble. I rank it up there with 'Weekend." Too bad it's so little known. The ignorant review in the New York Times probably didn't help. No physical copies available in the US but it's available through Amazon. Again, highly recommended. A truly beautiful movie.

Absolutely sensational, 1st rate and deeply felt. Very iconic in my knowledge of the genre. While not knowing what to expect, 3 questions came to mind as I was watching this. The 1st question happened about 1/3 into the film: could this be done as a straight film? And soon after the mid point, my answer was "no". The second question came a little after my 1st question: could this be something other than Japanese? The answer was also an affirmative "no". The 3rd question was why the title (English) "Egoist"? That had me wondered until the story took a sharp turn which I am not telling, but the answer is related to the question of "true love". I am among those who believe that there is a sense of altruistic giving in true love, but behind this lofty ideal, we must not forget as human and no matter how altruistic we are, there is always an underlying incentive of reward for the giver and this is the premise of the story. Henceforth, the title. On the genre "gay films". I shall begin with a personal story. When I was studying at AFI, Sherry Lansing, an executive at one of Hollywood major studios came to talk. She told us excitingly that there will be a new picture from Hollywood that would rewrite how gays were being portrayed. That gays will be presented in a more positive light. No longer as victims, as side casts, or as deviants and definitely unapologetically. The film was "La Cage Aux Folles" - the 1978 version. That also turned out to be a huge success. If you understand film to be a form of popular culture, not only to be enjoyed by the mass but also to time stamp the mass as history and as a collective, then films are certainly there to mark changes in attitude as well. Other which performed as milestone markers for me are "Boys in the Band", "Torch Song Trillogy", "Happy Together"(for HK), "Lan Yu" (for China), "Milk", "Philadelphia", "Dallas Buyers Club", "Call me by your Name" etc... Other than the Asian ones I mentioned and among those that I am not calling out, these films marked changing attitudes and perceptions about gays in society. For "Egoist", it certainly marked a very distinct attitude in the context of time, space and culture and presented these attributes in a more philosophical question on love and altruism. Finally a good word for the two actors who delivered their performances with much subtleties and believability. A word of warning for those who are prudish before you go rushing into the cinema. There are enough fairly explicit love scenes to raise your eyebrows. So there!

From the start of this movie I was captivated by the gentleness of things I know from my life. The love story is played so very well by very competent actors dealing with a world that may be dangerous or end up being heavan itself. Choppy waters that we all swim in the madness that we live in.

The connection and care and love is very real here, so many parts of this film I have lived myself and I am so grateful for the people who made this story into film.

Not hard to say but as a gay man everywhere in the world I've been...we have the same/similar things about us and this sensitive, strong, human story speaks for many of us, thank you film makers and all who constructed this for its honesty, much respect.

Kosuke and Ryuta should change role. I dont know how they cast the actor, but kosuke have more manly figure than Ryuta in both facial figure and body shape while Ryuta works as personal trainer he is to THIN in comparison with Kosuke that works in fashion dept, kosuke has better and define body tone, bigger muscle, etc. In one scene that Ryuta guiding Kosuke in Gym (as personal trainers do), in one scene you will see Ryuta trying to help Kosuke in Smith machine....oh boy you wont be MUCH help with that kind of thin arms and no (literally) muscle to hold Kosuke's plates weight. Iam not body shaming Ryuta actor or something, i just saying they SHOULD changed their ROLE, Ryuta have more prettier face, smaller body (way to thin for personal trainer imho) and definitely more fits to have the role as a fashion magazine editor. IRL i dont want to pay a PT (yeah they expensive) if they dont have a nice body and defined muscle. How can i trust them to guide me to the body goal i want if they themself too lazy to train their own body?. They SHOULD change role.