No, but I'll rent it when I have time.
I went to see
Sayonara Kabukicho (Kabukicho Love Hotel). This is exactly what I was hoping from Hiroki and Arai. A perfect mix of relatively mainstream friendly bittersweet drama and indie sensibilities. Also, it's Hiroki back at urban cinema which is what he excels at (e.g. his masterpiece It's Only Talk, also scripted by Arai). Very well captured city atmosphere, too.
There's about half dozen stories, all taking place in a love hotel in Kabukicho during the course of one day and night. It's a lot of characters, but their stories are served as small fragments sprinkled around the main narrative, which follows the the young manager (Shota Sometani) doing a very long shift in the hotel. As a result, it doesn't even feel episodic. It's a very good script by Arai.
Also, I only now realized how good Hiroki is at directing his cast. Fine performances by everyone, including Atsuko Maeda. Although Hiroki complained publicly about Maeda not going topless I think that was the right decision because her performance thoroughly fine and it would've been a shame if it had been overshadowed by her boobs. The rest of the cast do the on-screen sex and nudity, but it's all depicted with humour and compassion. Of course, for cinematic reasons the hotel's customer base isn't exactly your average young and middle aged couples (but rather a Korean prostitute working her last day in Japan, an AV crew, a young yakuza etc.) but none of that usual narrow minded preaching is here to be found.
Easily Hiroki's best film in nearly 10 years from the ones I've seen. And the ending scene is just lovely. I wouldn't mind seeing the film again immediately.
Oh, and Sometani! This guy is 22 years old and during the past four years he has worked with Sion Sono (twice), Takashi Miike (twice), Ryuchi Hiroki, Sogo Ishii, Koji Wakamatsu, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Shinji Aoyama. He just keeps appearing in interesting films one after another, and he's always good.
Schilling's review is also pretty much spot on:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/201 ... Me8vy5-Dk8