Hush!
Following up on his acclaimed Like Grains of Sand, Ryosuke Hashiguchi spins this melodramatic comedy about two gay men, an unbalanced woman, and a baby. Naoya (Kazuya Takahashi) is a soft-spoken, easygoing gay man who runs a pet store with his overbearing mother. After years of one-night stands and failed relationships, Noaya finally meets someone he likes at his favorite gay club, the handsome though closeted Katsuhiro (Seiichi Tanabe), who works as an engineer. Though at first the two seem to be quite happy, Katsuhiro's reluctance to come out to his traditionally minded parents throws a damper on their budding relationship. One of their arguments is overheard in a noodle shop by Asako (Reiko Kataoka), a beautiful though unbalanced lass who spends much of her twenties either on the psychologist's couch or having promiscuous sex. When the doctor recommends to her parents that she be sterilized, she has her own ideas. She decides that smart, kind, and well-dressed Katsuhiro would be the perfect father for her child, and she asks him if he would be her sperm donor. Naoya is initially dead set against the idea, but slowly Asako manages to win him over. Meanwhile, Katsuhiro starts to open up to his family. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi