Original subtitles

Mako?

At the time of chaos after the great 1923 earthquake,

Noe Itô was assassinated

together with the anarchist Sakae Ôsugi, her husband.

When her mother was killed, Mako was seven years old.

Tell me what you remember.

One remembers many things from when they were seven.

That morning she was killed, what did your mother say to you?

Was your mother beautiful?

Did you love your mother?

Did you love your mother?

It's been a long time since I wanted to ask you this.

When I left Tokyo, I repeatedly asked this question to myself.

As a woman, weren't you jealous of Noe?

That shocking day, her parents passed in front of her.

From that moment, you were jealous, right?

Jealous...

During her short life of 28 years, Noe married three times.

The third husband was the poet Jun Tsuji.

With him, she had two sons.

If it weren't for Ôsugi Sakae, she'd have continued on that path.

In 1916, a lover of Ôsugi, Itsuko Masaoka,

stabbed him out of jealousy.

Noe was the cause of that aggression.

Her mother joined the Bluestocking Movement directed by Aicho Hiraga,

thus becoming the youngest member of the group.

Then it was decided to end the Movement.

In her life, she had seven sons.

She led an intense life, a lot more intense than the average woman.

Noe Itô...

She was your mother, right?

Thank you. There are no more questions.

Please say your name again, Mako.

A-ko.

I am A-ko. Eiko Sokutai, a twenty-year-old student.

- Then, B-ko. - Good, B-ko.

Any last words for me?

All this has nothing to do with me.

You're talking about my mother, and she no longer exists.

What's said is about the mother of my mother,

the mother of my mother does not exist.

If we speak about the mother of the mother of my mother...

...well, then...

...you.

"Spring. March. Survivors of the hanging dance among the flowers."

Poem by Sakae Ôsugi.

Noe Itô led a life of chaotic beauty with Ôsugi.

Their rebellion looked towards decadent pleasure.

Contemporary youth discuss the revolution and erotica of Ôsugi and Ito.

Appreciation requires an ambivalent participation.

EROS + MASSACRE

A Gendai Eiga-sha production

In collaboration with Bungaku-za

Produced by Kijû Yoshida & Shinji Soshizaki

Screenplay by Masahiro Yamada & Kijû Yoshida

Cinematography by Motokichi Hasegawa Music by Toshi Ichiyanagi

Starring: Mariko Okada

Toshiyuki Hosokawa

Yûko Kusunoki, Etsushi Takahashi

Directed by Kijû Yoshida

At Geneva airport, Arab guerrillas destroyed an Israeli airplane.

The guerrillas fought against the police.

The Council of Paris is not going well.

Apollo 9 wasn't able to land on the moon.

No, it was successful.

I'll never forget that moment.

- What moment? - That moment...

That moment?

A spider's coming down from the ceiling.

It's swinging in the air.

I burnt it.

Then it said to me, "I'll die in flames."

- Who's in flames? - Me.

You're crazy! You're crazy!

The thief Kandata saved a spider.

I burnt it, hoping to spare the emptiness of time.

An evasion.

It's futile.

All of you must remember to extend your adventures.

Such images function as a cover for your dry, empty hearts!

I have little time, so that's my slogan!

But now...

...from now on I'll wear this maxim on my back...

Lord Buddha, condemn me to hell

for not saving this spider just like Kandata.

- Enough of the chanting. - Chanting is ridiculous.

I'm not saying anything.

- What are you looking at? - Your legs.

The hairs on your legs.

What of my hairs?

Will they continue to grow after you're dead?

What are you going to do now?

I'll go home and sleep. I want to sleep deeply.

I was actually asking about your future.

What plans do you have?

Marry a girl.

Have you made a promise?

- Has she agreed? - I've just decided.

You're a student. When do you graduate?

What do you intend to do?

After a year and nine months, I think.

I see. You're worried about your future.

I don't really understand what you're saying.

- You're worried about your future! - Not at all.

There's nothing I want to do.

"I have decided to die within 24 hours. Megumi."

Megumi...

Grace.

Blessing.

Merciful.

Thanks. Favour.

What?

Why didn't you answer me?

I didn't write out of idle curiosity.

On the Watarase River, many villages have been abandoned

because of lead poisoning from thirty years ago, before I was born.

Tanaka denounced this in Parliament more than ten years ago.

I thought that had all been resolved.

But the peasants still resist.

The State is even shooting them.

The State expects them to fall into oblivion,

and it kills them like unwanted children.

Nevertheless, no one supports their case.

No newspaper speaks of it.

Knowing this, I am dismayed.

I am ashamed of my ignorance about what goes on in the world.

Therefore...

I wrote to you asking for some suggestions.

The cherry blossoms are blooming.

They were in full bloom that day as well.

You're probably thinking

that it's just the sentimental excitement of a humble country girl.

Is that what Tsuji said?

Tsuji would've said, "Think more of yourself instead."

We're seen as rich upper-class ladies who started the Movement as a hobby,

and I, one of these "new women", hear of tragic stories

and speak nonsense with an easy fervour.

Is that what you think?

What can these "new women" achieve? But I...

I also don't have the power to do anything.

Look behind you.

I have one 24 hours a day, paid for by contributors.

I am an anarchist, a cooking duck.

A duck?

I can only squawk.

That description doesn't fit the Ôsugi I know.

At the moment, that's all I am, a duck!

The duck did write an answer, but he didn't post it.

It was a long letter, rather like a love letter.

The cherry blossoms, like the look in your eyes, have fallen.

The cherry blossoms?

The blooms are beautiful.

In my village of Imajuku, they blossom one week before they do in Tokyo.

"Spring. March.

"The survivors of the hanging dance among the flowers."

There were blossoms that day as well.

When I left prison,

Shusui and my other companions were no more.

They'd been killed.

We danced among the flowers.

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom then too.

They were my cherry blossoms.

I am Haruko Hiraga, alias Aicho.

Yes.

I wonder how different you are from the way I imagined you.

Am I so different?

No, not in the slightest. I wonder, though...

But you said, "In the beginning, woman was the sun,

"today the woman is the moon,

"dependent on supplanting the other and reflecting other people's light.

"We must recover our hidden light."

So how did you imagine me?

I don't know what to say.

Like an angry militant?

- Have you received your expenses? - Yes.

That's how I was able to travel here.

You'll have to excuse me, I forgot to thank them.

I'll pay you back when I get work.

How funny! There's no need to give it back.

Then, thank you!

- This is Itsuko Masaoka. - A pleasure. I am Noe.

I've heard of your name.

An extraordinary and intelligent woman, people say.

Today I'm resigning from writing for Bluestocking magazine.

That's such a shame.

Women can't break down boundaries just by hanging round together.

It's necessary to dive right into men's society.

Otherwise, women will remain isolated.

Working in a male society helps to end discrimination.

We must fight for equality.

That's why I became a journalist in Tokyo.

So long. Be strong.

Take care, Aicho-san.

We talked about you,

a provincial girl writing like a man.

Such logical clarity for an 18-year-old, living in difficult circumstances.

A strong and determined young woman from the provinces.

Thus our Movement felt authentic at last.

Authentic? But...

The magazine was said to be purely a hobby for bourgeois women.

You know that?

But in reality,

there are so many women like her,

slaves of the domestic system and ancient convention.

We wanted to free them,

that was our objective.

But the battle isn't only yours,

not yours to fight alone.

We women must work together.

I have to fight for the cause.

I was born into a poor peasant family in Kyushu.

What shall we do now?

I'll deal with Professor Tsuji.

But you have to think about making a living.

Yes.

I have a placement for you, editing the Bluestocking.

Really?

I want to give you the opportunity.

That was my aim from the start.

I'll come from tomorrow.

This is the window where you write the magazine.

- May I open it? - There's a cold wind blowing.

I've always wanted to look outside just the once.

The view's nothing special. Just plums and bamboo.

In spring, there are peonies.

In autumn, you can look at the moon.

And in the winter, it snows.

- Why do you burn it? - Because it calms me.

Burn it.

You're burning.

No, something else.

I read it in a book, it's due to some disturbance of the unconscious.

It can be a childhood trauma, an obsession.

The one that pushes you to play with fire,

like an escape from reality.

Psychoanalysis is absurd.

No one says that doctors are always normal.

If not, then psychoanalysis makes no sense.

Hey, can you ignite me?

Burn me?

I'm going.

Where to?

To Megumi's apartment. She said she's dying.

- Who? - Megumi.

Just leave her to die.

Maybe...

But one can't think like that.

Do what you want.

See you.

Excuse me, aren't you Eiko Sokutai?

Yes. Who wants to know?

Eiko Sokutai: student, twenty years old,

enrolled at Tokyo Design College, studying the art of computer science.

Born in Gifu Prefecture, currently residing in...

Tell me what you want.

February 28th at 7:00pm, you were at the Fairmont Bar.

You met your man, right?

Yes, I met him. I see him around.

There are 5.3 million men in Tokyo.

Start shooting!

That's right.

Cut!

Excluding children under the age of nine, there are 4.2 million men.

All suffer from permanent sexual need.

Want do you want to know?

Are you a journalist? Or an insurance inspector?

Don't smile! You're beautiful models, not human beings!

Start filming!

I'm a police detective.

I'm accusing you of prostitution.

A non-expressive performance is the best.

You're going out again?

I have to hand in my manuscript today.

When Aicho made me head editor, people had no belief in us.

But we're now printing issue number four.

The fourth issue?

You said you'd help me, but you did nothing.

It's your magazine, do as you please.

There are times when I could do with a hand.

I've already given you all I can.

It seems that it's pulling you further away from me.

Indeed.

You don't have to show me what goes on at your meetings.

I simply want to keep my distance.

You're the one who said I had to study and educate myself.

Yes, and as a result you've grown.

You're 20 and you edit a magazine.

You're commentator on the emancipation of women.

At the same time, you're the wife of a lazy oaf like me,

and the mother of Makoto and Ryuji.

What is it you want to say?

You talk about women's emancipation every time you open your mouth.

And of course, this must be advanced.

But I've had a rethink lately.

What we've created up till now are simply words.

The emancipation of women in present times...

...the ego...

What does this actually mean?

You call for emancipation,

but don't like dealing with the children or want to keep a household.

I'm not being sarcastic.

I totally admire your dynamism.

That's one of your merits, Noe.

Innovation, modernisation...

We know that the trains run, they've built a skyscraper in Asakusa,

and they've opened parliament.

So although I play the shakuhachi, it doesn't console me.

You've taught to me the words of Stirner:

"Don't look for liberty with abandon, know your true self,

"and your ego becomes omnipotent."

That's why I stopped working.

Reading, sleeping, and nothing else.

I live as I want, and concentrate on myself.

But to me it seems out of perspective.

You watch from too far a distance.

Why don't you draw your attention onto closer matters?

You never supported the peasants of Yanaka-mura

dying from their poisoned water.

That's true.

Sometimes it does no good to view things from such a distance.

Women's emancipation, modernisation...

they'll become reality sooner or later.

Perhaps in fifty or seventy years, I don't know...

We're only five years into the Taisho Era,

and trains are now running as far as Kyushu Island.

Nevertheless...

I wonder where those intense vicissitudes come from...

When we eventually have women's emancipation,

I feel that the void of the self will become even greater.

When I told you to ignore those farmers in Yanaka-mura,

you looked unhappy.

Those farmers, left in the freezing waters of that reservoir...

Their sheer determination to cling to their land...

Where did their spirit come from?

There must be something there greater than my feelings of futility.

That's why I spoke as I did.

I don't understand.

I don't understand either.

That's why I want to go that far.

Makoto's crying. Go and see what's wrong.

You climbed the stairs.

From the ground to the first floor, from the first to the second.

From the second finally to the third.

I went from the second to the third.

You entered a closed room.

Yes, I entered a secret room.

You took off your clothes.

I took off my clothes. Why?

Because you have to please your client in order to get paid.

Then you were naked.

I was naked.

You spoke.

I spoke.

- Say it. - What did I say?

How should I know? You said it.

Hurry up and say it.

- What did you say? - I don't know.

You're the one that said it.

Hello, 1970.

Wrong.

Hello, man. Hello, him. Hello, client.

That'll do.

Then what?

You displayed your wares.

I displayed them.

This incident took place on February 28 at 7:20pm.

This I did on February the twen...

- Eighth. - At night.

Why do you need the date?

That's not enough evidence. Was the guy killed?

Just answer the questions. The tape's still on.

It's all evidence.

You went to bed.

I went to bed with the man.

You received money as you left the hotel room.

How much was it?

I'm bored with this game.

If we must go on, let's say I killed the guy with a vase.

State the amount. There's still 20 feet of tape.

Did I slit his throat with scissors?

- How much? - 300 yen.

Answer properly.

Should I say 5,000 yen? But I'll stutter.

I can't say

Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum...

So I said 300 yen instead. All right?

3,000 yen? Pretty cheap!

- Was the guy killed? - He's alive.

The man's not been charged with anything.

According to the prostitution laws, the paying party is not prosecuted.

It's not fair.

However, we must discover the organisation behind the crime.

To destroy evil. We'd appreciate your cooperation.

State your name once more.

Eiko Sokutai.

"Ei" as in "ABC". "Ei" means immortality, permanence, forever...

Whatever.

Whether the woman is me or not, I just don't care.

As for me, there is no "me". Do you understand?

We must have patience.

It's necessary to be like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Our movement's living through a winter season.

The wall in front of us is insurmountable.

But we cannot fall back.

We must remain steadfast.

You always say "Advance!"

But we must wait for the moment with determination and courage.

In reality, we're idly sleeping.

We're just frightened and inactive!

An opportunity does not arrive automatically.

Indeed we must create it!

What is it before us?

We find only a desert full of rocks and a prison.

Beyond that, all that awaits us is to die in vain on the gallows!

I've already waited two years and achieved nothing! Nothing's changed!

In the end we just die. To me, that seems unjust!

We do not want to die like dogs, in vain.

We said the same thing two years ago.

We discovered an alternative culture

and founded the magazine Contemporary Philosophy.

That's just mental masturbation! It produces nothing.

I've had enough!

Mental masturbation?

Very clever.

Well said!

Consolidation and individual integrity, that's what I agree with.

But only in fantasy can the self control the world sufficiently.

The society always oppresses the self.

We've abandoned the rebellion and curled up into our shells.

We are eternally disobedient but eternally defeated,

escaping from society.

A philosophy of prisoners!

It's true.

Not wanting to remain intellectually captive,

we have shut down "Contemporary Philosophy".

We've tried to restart a popular newspaper,

but with such severe State censorship imposed on us,

we don't have a leg to stand on.

It'll be March soon. And then spring.

What do we do next?

Who's there?

Bludgeons or bombs?

Thus a dog's death is assured.

We can make it to the summit now, and we know it.

But we won't be able to stay for long.

Sakae, you talk of being a wolf in sheep's clothing yet dying a dog's death.

Are you now saying we're monkeys climbing to the mountaintop?

Monkeys that climb then fall? That's what we're like.

Monkeys that can't rest at the peak!

It's enough that we succeed in getting to the summit.

What did you say?

We must claim the liberty to climb.

We want to climb to the apex of life!

And in that moment, we will touch the ecstasy of liberty.

For that, we'll go on general strike, not for the money,

but to claim that ecstasy

with courage and ambition.

All workers will be freed forever from slavery,

and create a valuable history!

Political violence!

Political violence!

I don't know you well.

- Are you a student? - I don't know.

A gangster?

I have seen you sleep with a man, but I've not been to bed with you.

You're sexually impotent, right?

No!

I want to sleep with you!

You will agree to it!

We'll go to a hotel!

You'll say you don't want to!

Say it!

Now is it my turn?

I don't want to.

And suddenly, I...

Anyway, when I say no, you give a kick and bend down!

I bend down.

I come from behind and push you down.

You fight back.

That sounds fabulous.

I strangle you.

- I'm strangled. - You resist with all your might.

I'm doing it!

I tear your skirt and underwear.

I get inside you.

You're inside me.

Wait, look!

Everyone's running here. There's been an incident.

Tell me what's happened!

A homicide? A revolution? A road accident?

There's too many people, I can't see.

Let's get closer!

- Are you a witness? - Yes, I'm very shaken up.

Please describe it.

An enormous crane suddenly collapsed.

- All the cables snapped. - How come?

- The support ropes split. - And then what happened?

- There was a basket, a gondola. - What was in the gondola?

- I don't know... - Let's exchange roles.

That was no gondola. It was an iron ark.

What's it used for?

It's equipment we can use for our survival.

It fell at a velocity of 8.2km per second and weighed 16 tons.

- And then? - It fell on a bus passing below.

The bus...

The bus...

...was full of old people!

It's a hellish scene! An ocean of blood and chunks of flesh!

And lying in a ditch, a small handbag containing a doll.

Here, probably an old victim's gift for her grandchild.

The old lady really had a granddaughter?

It was an old man! Make no mistake!

Move! We're rescuing the wounded! Move away!

Further away!

Further!

Further!

This world isn't for you!

I kissed Noe.

I kissed Noe.

She's in love with me.

Is this what you wanted to say?

You are a cultured and intelligent woman.

You understand my ideas.

Yes, I understand you very well.

I told you when we first fell in love.

I have a wife, Yasuko.

An illiterate, simple woman.

But determined like the wife of a revolutionary.

I put her through a lot, but I love her.

I love you equally.

And you also love Noe?

Lucky you.

I am very happy for you.

The three of us will hold together well.

- If we respect three conditions. - And what are those conditions?

First: that each is economically independent.

Second:

that I don't live with any one of you, we all live separately.

Three: that each of us respect each other's freedom.

Including our sexual freedom, of course.

I have numerous friends,

but none complains that one is loved more than any other.

I attend to all equally.

Also my lovers have lived with the idea of equality and liberty.

Then you have to respect the promises you make.

What promises?

Those that we agreed upon the first night.

You haven't forgotten them.

I told you at the time...

...that I didn't recognise the importance of marriage.

I've learned from my sisters' examples.

In this world, marriage doesn't guarantee a woman's happiness.

That's why I have no wish to get married.

I don't believe in marriage,

and I love you, in spite of you ignoring Yasuko's love or even her existence.

But as a woman, I want to be master of my own life,

despite the many difficulties.

I hear you.

What was the promise?

You're saying Noe's a different case from Yasuko?

Not so!

I asked you to keep our love a secret.

But you went and told Yasuko.

Not only her, but your friends too.

I can't see any reason for hiding it.

But then nobody would disturb us.

We'd be able to see each other freely.

"Freely"?

You don't want me to see other people?

I don't fear what people say, or your friends.

But we can't wait for them to radically change.

We must therefore defend our love...

It's not important. Ignore them.

The world can attack me only for my morals.

You can say that because you're a man.

When I was 18 years old, I was in love and wanted to get married.

But nothing became of my love.

My family and everyone intervened to separate us.

Is one to obey society's morals or hide in the shadows?

You think there's freedom in the shadows?

Let's just respect the three conditions.

For truth and freedom.

But I'm a woman.

I can't avoid worldly responsibilities and burdens...

I know you don't want children.

Very well, if that's what you want.

So this is your second condition?

And the third?

I've taken the client to the room, as you said.

There was another girl waiting in the room.

You summoned me here just to tell me that?

That's right. What else can I say?

What do you want me to believe?

But it had been arranged, really.

Here's the bill. I just received it.

Deal with it.

You've nothing to say?

Why are you worrying about it?

Can't you understand such a simple matter?

Because you've judged me as a criminal suspect.

That's why.

And the place is... No, find it yourself.

You have the ability to find anything, even an imaginary crime.

In exchange, I'll give you an objective.

So...

You think your life's a disaster.

You can't bear living without a goal.

But life has no objective.

It's a life of sorrow.

The only sure thing is death.

We know nothing about this fearful future.

So we live in the imagination. We live...

But there is only pain.

My murdered mother said that life was a battle.

It's a battle! Isn't this what living means?

She was murdered? By who?

By you? By my fathers?

Such a pathetic imagination.

What is the power of imagination?

Poor people's delusions.

Not having money, their delusions grow stronger.

They dream of revolution.

If a man's talking in front of you,

what does he do with his left hand?

Try to imagine.

The imaginary perception caused the action at that very moment.

I can visualise the crime in front of my eyes.

That's the one true crime.

All of a sudden...

...I sniff like a dog.

I arrest him.

How do I manage to do it?

Because I don't live in the imagination.

I don't trouble myself.

I don't believe humans are powerless.

Listen, right now, I'm a prostitute for someone else.

The people who suffer distress, they're already in jail.

There's no need to arrest more of them.

You know, it was only a nightmare that you had this morning.

I've already found the prostitution ring that I was looking for.

Yesterday.

You've conspired to tease me. Why?

Why?

There's no conspiracy. Eiko was just worried about me.

I respect your friendship.

Wait!

I've never slept with a man.

Don't go! I'm afraid!

Help me! I'm scared!

I woke up and looked at the clock as usual.

It was 6:37.

I remained motionless and fell asleep again.

When I looked at the clock again, it was 10:07.

I got up and looked in the mirror.

My skin was rough.

It took 15 minutes to get dressed.

I couldn't decide what to wear, jeans or a skirt.

So I didn't get dressed.

I brushed my teeth in the bathroom,

thinking I'd just brushed them, but that was yesterday morning.

I thought the same that morning as well!

The bathroom window was open 3cms and a spring breeze came in.

I stooped to see outside.

In the street, a labourer was lifting a cable on a truck.

But he couldn't manage it.

He kept failing and got angry.

At last, he came up here to the first floor.

I hadn't put on any make-up, just cream.

Recently, I get the chills when I put on lipstick.

Then I ate.

I drank a bottle of milk.

And I ate some lettuce and bread.

Then I just sat in that chair, maybe for about an hour.

Then I remembered I hadn't watered the plants,

so I watered them for 30 minutes.

I think I gave them too much!

Then there was nothing else to do, so I just sat down again.

Then the telephone rang. It was 12:12.

From the office about the telephone bill.

I just said yes.

There was nothing else to do, so I sat there again.

Please help me!

Help me, please!

How can I live without fear?

All I hear are cars passing by.

I need something to hold on to!

Be quiet.

Don't think about anything.

You mustn't think about anything at all.

It's my father.

I sent him a telegram saying I was dying.

I don't want to see my father or mother. That's why I came to Tokyo alone.

You've got a home in the country. Aren't you lucky?

No, I don't want to see anyone!

- Say I'm out. - Don't be so silly.

Wipe away your tears.

Open the door.

Where are you going? Home?

I need a holiday.

A really long holiday.

Listen, don't open the door! Please, do not open it!

A woman has no time for anything when she's raising children.

You're too lenient with Noe, so she's become selfish.

Don't bother yourself with her.

Take away Noe's work and she'd be no good for anything.

But it's terrible, she's always out.

I'm used to it.

Used to it?

Why don't you scold her?

Well, I'm too lazy to do anything but play the shakuhachi.

She's probably fallen out of love with me.

Come in.

Come in.

My poor brother!

My poor brother!

Miss Noe?

Please don't open it.

I'm not some eccentric curiosity to be gawped at.

I have no interest in speaking to my husband's mistress.

You would feel the same in my position.

anything else?

If not, please leave.

Ôsugi's out.

Then please tell him

that I have decided never to see him again.

I should tell him myself,

but I'm in a hurry and want to get it over now.

You belong to me when you're with me.

You may think so if you like, but I'm tied to no one.

I think so too.

I'm sure Noe and Yasuko feel the same.

Is that not so?

You have nothing to worry about.

I came to tell him that I'm leaving him.

Leaving me?

So, you can't leave Tsuji?

You did everything you could to marry him.

No, I'm leaving Tsuji as well.

I'm not going to be with Ôsugi.

I'll support myself.

From this moment, I'm completely free from everyone.

You always thought only of you and Tsuji.

Maybe so.

And you don't want to ruin Tsuji's life.

You're so sly!

So you think you'll live independently. That's just glib talk!

You really think you can do it?

I doubt it!

I decided to, and I will!

If that's true, why say farewell?

They're just empty words!

It didn't have to be Ôsugi. You could've been with anyone.

You just wanted to escape from your life with Tsuji.

You could've taken any lover.

No, it's all the same to you.

It was just like putting on new sandals to you.

And they got covered in mud too soon.

Look at the mud after the frost has thawed.

How comical!

You and I...

We're both covered in mud.

Did you ever really love Tsuji?

Or Ôsugi?

Have you ever thought what love means?

It means making his heart your own, monopolising him.

That's the way I feel.

Ôsugi and I both own each other.

Since you fell in love with Ôsugi,

you became entangled with us both, whether you liked it or not.

You can't free yourself from us.

Not till things are settled.

People can't own others. They can't!

Oh, yes, they can!

I'm a salaried journalist, and he's a penniless anarchist.

I support Ôsugi and Yasuko.

In other words, it's mutual support.

But he knows it's not really true.

When he receives 10 yen from me,

he knows I'm maintaining him with 10 yen.

The only way he can make a living is as a government informer.

Without money, one is not free.

But as an informer, he has to sell his freedom.

Even with that money, he won't be free from me.

If he leaves me, I'll kill him.

It's a lie that love can't be bought!

Even a revolutionary's soul can be bought!

That's just Itsuko's nature,

she says what she likes then feels better.

Pay no attention to her.

It doesn't concern me any more.

I don't care, because I'm leaving you.

So, this is the end, then?

Yes.

I may have been sly, like Itsuko said.

I may have tried to use you as a spring board to change my life.

But I only tried to untie one knot.

You untied one knot, and everything fell apart.

Farewell.

It's over.

- Ever had a dream? - A bad dream?

I'm having one right now. I'd like to give it to you.

I wonder if he got along with Megumi.

"Got along"? What do you mean?

Just anything and everything.

We can't go back to the past.

What are you thinking?

That I'm not bad?

I was in Year Five at school and sleet was falling.

He was in the window at the bank.

I was staring at him from outside.

I thought he was my mother's lover.

She met him often about town.

Let's end it. I don't want to see you anymore.

The man who shot this film is a good-for-nothing.

He looks exactly like my mother's lover.

Hey, is he going to use this in a commercial?

It was September 19th around 9:00am.

Through the fence, I spied both Ôsugi and Noe leaving.

Mako was at our house when she saw them too.

She said, "It's Mama and Papa."

Ôsugi was never seen again.

Mako continued to visit us over the next few days.

A news reporter came and took Mako's picture while she visited us.

The next day, reports of Ôsugi's massacre were published.

Mako was expected to come round that day.

I said to the children, "Don't mention Mako's Papa."

I didn't want to hurt Mako's feelings.

They understood that something had happened and nodded silently.

Mako came through the back gate as usual.

She immediately said, "Mama and papa are dead.

"Uncle and Grandpa went to get them by car."

Mako knew all about it,

even though she was only seven years old.

She played innocently, knowing about the tragic death of her parents.

My children felt sorry for her,

and they gave her all their toys.

Roan Uchida writes about Ôsugi in his book People I Remember.

What did you hope to find on the dark library shelves?

The past?

History?

Memory?

Pride?

Education?

I reject it all.

Just stop digging up the past, you don't understand any of it!

Miss Noe?

Aren't you Miss Noe Itô?

Yes, I'm Noe.

I've been searching for you for a long time.

I'm so happy I've found you.

I even went to Hakata and Imajuku.

What is it you want?

I just wanted to talk.

Do you know about tomorrow?

Yes.

What you will do then?

I understand clearly now.

If you hadn't lived with Ôsugi...

I'll rephrase that.

If Itsuko Masaoka had won in the love triangle,

do you think that you might have escaped death

at the time of the 1923 Great Earthquake?

One can't change one's way of life.

That was my way.

And finally...

What do you think of these past 46 years, from 1923 to 1969?

I came hereto punch you!

- As a comrade or a friend? - Both.

This is my final warning. Listen!

It's got nothing to do with you.

- Can you hear that voice? - A mewling cat.

It's Yasuko. And Itsuko's probably crying too!

- I hear it. - She resigned from her job.

While you were shacked up with Noe on Itsuko's money,

she was waiting for you at Ryogoku Station.

Her nerves were completely shot.

Do you know what you've done?

Is that all you want to say?

Aren't you ashamed of yourself?

- Can't be helped. - What did you say?

I love all three fairly and impartially, and they know it.

Impartially? That's the limit.

Weren't you partial to Noe?

You were living with her here.

What are you going to do, abandon the other two?

As I said, it can't be helped.

All three promised to be financially independent.

But Noe has no job, she can't make a living.

- We have to wait a while. - The other two will be ruined.

You want me to leave Noe? That's impossible.

She has brought me back to life as a revolutionary,

when publication of our magazine was suppressed.

You mean "mine"!

All we did was idly sit by

and watch the farmers of Yanaka-mura being persecuted by the ruling class.

She opened my eyes to the courage of my convictions.

She taught me to fight with hate and anger when necessary.

Sakae called it "childish sentimentalism" that we were suffering from,

but that sentimentalism was absolutely necessary then.

It was her methods that got you involved in this scandal.

If you hadn't listened to one of your three mistresses,

I'd still be your comrade.

"Comrade"?

A fellow revolutionary?

What is the revolution to us?

It's a means to gain absolute freedom.

The abolition man's exploitation of his fellow man is the first principle.

But exploitation is defended by the private ownership system!

What is the private ownership system?

It's a moral which establishes a binding monogamy between the sexes

and it justifies hereditary property rights.

And it compromises our will to fundamentally support it!

That's where the problem lies.

Revolution means to utterly destroy all this!

A couple makes a home,

and a home makes a nation.

As long as this is kept absolutely sacred,

we will be far from bringing about a revolution.

Don't get carried away!

Polygamy is a decadent moral of men,

which contradicts their women's rights.

We aim at revolution to obtain freedom,

but when I practise free love,

my comrades lose their heads and leave.

It's hard for you to view it with a cool head.

But what exactly is it?

You have to go right back to Confucianism.

How can we ever attain a revolution or freedom

without considering this point?

This is as far as we go. So long.

Russia is ripe.

They say it won't last till next March.

Raison...

Take care of Yasuko.

You plucked my fruit and threw it on the ground.

It doesn't matter.

I handed Bluestocking Magazine over to you.

Do you regret handing it to me?

Aren't you cold, my dear?

I don't regret it in the least.

You took it over just as I was considering stopping publication.

Maybe it would've been smarter not to stop publishing.

As the number of pages reduced, and the quality of paper worsened,

maybe it would've been better to suspend publishing our magazine.

Please could you move? You're blocking my sun.

I'm leaving.

I searched for the hotel room key, but I couldn't find it.

So I had to come back from Yokohama.

You're hopeless.

Wait there, I'll come for you.

You mustn't go outwith a cold.

Bring my coat.

I'm leaving.

I think Noe's hiding in a hotel nearby till I leave.

Will you be quiet?

- You're worried about Noe, aren't you? - Be quiet!

- Noe! - Are you afraid she'll ring again?

Noe won't ring, she's different.

She's deceiving you, I know.

I think we need to talk.

I can't take this any more.

Is that what you really think?

Yes...

I feel the same. I'm sure you think it's shameful.

I'm tired of the whole mess.

Let's put an end to it.

- So you agree. - Yes, it's over between us.

- That's all you have to say to me? - What else is there?

You're the one who espouses free love.

I believed in you.

This is too cruel!

You want me to admit the failure of my theory?

I admit it. Something that was bound to fail has failed.

Satisfied?

What you mean is that it's my fault it didn't work.

Are we really finished?

The age of free love... it's close at hand.

The time will come, one day,

when a man and a woman can sleep together without money interfering.

- I... - What's done is done!

Do you know what I'm thinking?

Wait!

There's film loaded.

I've no interest in the past. I don't want it on film.

What happened then?

I've nothing to do.

Will young men say the same thing 50 years from now?

Of course!

- So what happened? - To whom?

Your mother's lover.

He smiled through the bank window.

Then he waved at me to come over, and I went along to his house.

- What kind of house was it? - How should I know? I was blindfolded.

He was a homo.

Well, that's not true. He molested me.

That's all.

I know. He chose death.

Who?

He thought death was the greatest pleasure.

Death reverses values.

- Reverses what? - Values.

So, are you going to stab me?

Yes. To kill you is the only way.

I see.

Then do it with one stroke.

Why don't you try to escape?

You said you want to stab me. There's nothing I can do.

You want to escape from yourself, don't you?

Right?

What failed was not your theories but the revolution.

You know yourself.

You set a trap to escape your insecurity.

A trap?

A trap, you say?

We're like three strings entwined around you,

and we three women become ever more tangled by struggling.

And in the end...

...the strings will strangle you.

All will end just as you planned,

this period of uncertainty.

Think what you like.

But for me...

...revolution means self-denial in order to eliminate the self.

Death approaches with a hidden blade,

murmuring love and fear, just like you do.

It's frightening for ordinary people,

but nothing comes close to this ecstasy.

I won't help you by stabbing you!

It was like this once before.

When I was in Year Three at school, I...

You were a delinquent, who always carried a knife.

A juvenile delinquent.

You cut someone in a fight and were expelled.

So your dream of becoming an army general was destroyed.

Is that not so?

Wrong.

He grabbed his knife.

I went for the knife in my pocket...

...but I changed my mind and faced him bare-handed.

He hit me.

I fell.

You knew it.

You knew it would end like this.

My whole body's...suddenly getting cold.

Hey, you.

Can you set me on fire?

You can't set me on fire, can you?

You can't do it!

You can't do it. You can't do anything!

So you were hiding.

But he's mine. I won't give him to you.

You can't do that.

With this, he becomes mine.

This way, you lose not only Ôsugi but everything.

It's better for me to lose everything.

Ôsugi can't keep up this way of life. He must die.

So now I'll make him mine.

You're mine now!

Put the blade away.

All you'll get with that is a corpse.

Even so, that's enough for me.

There are some things one can only gain through death.

I believe that!

You...

You didn't stab him. Why?

What stopped your hand?

No, I stabbed him!

Just look.

My knife pierced his heart.

Can't you see it?

Look, the bloods flowing...

...just like sand.

His eyes no longer blink.

Blood has drained from his lips.

My Ôsugi has died.

My love pierced him and he died.

At that moment, my Ôsugi died.

It's true.

A gentle, dead face.

His sharp cheeks are now like an endless desert...

...that swallows the person who tries to tread there.

Eyes that saw only me now see nothing.

But I couldn't see his dead face.

Isn't that right?

I defeated Yasuko and I defeated Itsuko.

And I followed him.

So I will be killed with him someday.

Therefore...

...I must look at his gentle, dead face now.

You follow me, even knowing that you'll be killed?

Yes.

You know I'll only want to do it more if you say that.

What did Ôsugi say?

What did the dead man say?

He said, "Farewell, Itsuko."

Farewell.

"Killed"?

But I'll kill my partner first.

I'm that kind of woman.

Do you know I'm the one who'll get you killed?

I know.

You're afraid now that you know you'll be killed.

You're just an ordinary woman.

No!

Our three-sided game is over!

Ôsugi is alive.

When you failed to stab him, at that point...

...I knew what I had to do.

I saw... into the future.

He's dead.

- You can't stab a dead man now. - No!

You tried to pierce through him with this dagger...

...but you couldn't do it!

I was able to do it!

That was all.

This is the proper conclusion.

I'm the one that stabbed him!

Out of three women, it was Noe,

who won the battle for love and took Yasuko's place.

That's exactly what you didn't want.

A woman can't stab a man out of jealousy.

You're saying it wasn't a man that Noe stabbed?

Is that what you're saying?

Right.

What I stabbed was not a man, not just Ôsugi.

Don't die! Open your eyes!

Tell my comrades.

...that on November 7, 1916,

Sakae Ôsugi was stabbed by Noe Itô and died.

A fitting death for Ôsugi the anarchist.

I see the blue, blue sky.

And lots of black chimneys.

And golden ears of wheat glistening in the wind.

I can see everything now!

Even things I shouldn't see.

Love...

My three loves!

Revolution!

Revolution which is naturally replete with self-denial!

Truth!

Noe stabbed me.

She passed through and beyond me.

No, Noe was able to stab you,

because she's pregnant.

Because your child is in her.

You think I didn't notice?

You stupid women!

Goodnight, my Ôsugi.

There was no other way.

You understand that, don't you?

I came back to tell you that I can be free from you.

But there was no other way to go beyond you...

...at that very instant.

Don't die!

The day you passed through me like the wind,

I knew freedom.

But then I realised that I was captured by you,

so I had to pierce through you...

...to gain further freedom.

He's dead. He's really dead.

Gone.

Say something, anything!

I'm dead. What can I say?

Hurry and call a doctor.

Ôsugi didn't die then.

So why did Itsuko turn herself in, if she didn't stab him?

She turned herself in?

Right after that, Itsuko turned herself in to Scotland Yard.

Is that how you imagine it? Then it's simple.

Noe's crime was in her imagination.

And Itsuko accepted the crime of reality to defeat Noe.

That's all.

- Is winning so important? - What else is there?

Maybe the incident never even happened.

Noe, do you know what really killed you?

"Spring. March. Survivors of the hanging dance among the flowers."

This photo will be a magnificent monument for the future.

Everyone, please look at the camera.

Thank you.

Some guy caught his ear in this.

His ear?

I wonder if he can hear his own cries.