She went for apples. Five minutes. She's still gone. What happened in the dark between the store and home?
An ordinary salary man, Junosuke, goes in search of his lover, Miharu, who disappeared one night when she handed him the key to her room, and promised to be back in five minutes. She had only gone out to buy apples at the nearby convenience store, because Junosuke has one for breakfast every morning. Slightly drunk from the cocktail he had had earlier, Junosuke falls asleep, and wakes up the next morning to find that Miharu had never returned.
Acting
Taizo Harada's hollowed-out desperation as a man erasing himself
Cinematography
Tokyo at 3am — convenience store fluorescence as existential dread
Director
Masao Takeshita
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Shinji Ishii's novel; the title refers to both Miharu's sudden disappearance and Junosuke's psychological 'jump' into obsession.
Released during Japan's 'lost decade' economic anxiety — the salaryman's search mirrors national uncertainty about stability itself.
JP
