Bye Bye Love (1974)

Isao Fujisawa | Japan | 1974 | 87 min | R21 (Sexual Scenes and Homosexual Content) This film is a queer reimagining of Bonnie and Clyde, set against the backdrop of 1970s countercultural Japan. When loud-mouthed nihilist Utamaro encounters Giiko, a charismatic genderfluid individual on the streets, their fates intertwine as star-crossed lovers in the mould of Bonnie and Clyde set in 1970s Japan. Trouble soon follows the maverick couple, as a succession of mischievous acts in their wake culminates in the murder of Giiko’s lover, an American embassy worker. Breaking free from the suffocating uniformity of the city’s monotonous tower blocks, the lovers speed towards the countryside in a stolen convertible, riding towards the setting sun. Shot guerrilla-style with amateur actors, this New Wave treasure channels jishu eiga (self-made) spirit in its purest form. The freewheeling couple’s frenetic escapade becomes a space for radical queer experimentation, pushing against society’s heteronormative conventions. Bye Bye Love is an elegy to a generation of youth filled with anti-imperialist sentiment and rage against conformity – a fever dream capturing the dying embers of rebellion.