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JUDAS

By Izumi OHTOMI

PONY CANYON INC - as SALES All rights, World

Drama - Completed 2012

Once upon a time, there was a hostess who became a legend—. Judas, Kurumi Tachibana’s semi-autobiographical novel, a bestseller that sold 300,000 copies through its shocking realism and the overwhelming charm of the “evil heroine,” has finally been made into a movie.

- Year of production
- 2012
- Genres
- Drama
- Countries
- JAPAN
- Languages
- JAPANESE
- Duration
- 109 mn
- Director(s)
- Izumi OHTOMI
- Cast
- Ayame MIZUSAKI, Sho AOYAGI, Kenji MIZUHASHI, Yuseki TAJIMA, Ryohei SUZUKI, Noriko AOYAMA, Itsuji ITAO
- Synopsis
- Story
  A town in Saitama prefecture. High school student Erika’s life seems to fall apart when her boyfriend betrays her and scars her heart and her face. The manager of the family restaurant where she works part time refuses to let her work with a scarred face, and she has no way to pay for an abortion. Then Shinkai, the manager of hostess club Elleseine, invites the miserable Erika to come work at his club.
  Two days later in the entertainment district of Omiya, Erika steps tentatively into Elleseine. Shinkai is happy to see her and gives her a professional name—Hitomi. With this temporary job that pays 4,000 yen an hour, Erika makes 100,000 yen in five days, and next day she gets her abortion and wakes up crying in the hospital.
  Erika parts with her past and stops “believing.” And she decides to work full time at Elleseine. Nawa, a cynical businessman who’s never had a girlfriend in the 35 years of his life, becomes Erika’s first regular customer. She secretly nicknames him Beethoven for his curly hair and makes notes about him in her notebook. Her customers are lonely, greedy or lustful, and each has a “hole” in his heart. She becomes skillful at filling those holes with whatever they desire and stops feeling guilty about lying to them.
  A year later, Erika is the number one hostess of Elleseine. But she is frustrated and restless. To fill the “hole” in her own heart, she develops a strong desire to rise to top of Kabukicho, the biggest entertainment district in the East.
  Using Kurumi as her professional name, Erika hurls herself into the glamorous battlefield of Eden, a top-class hostess club in Kabukicho. She endures being bullied by Mimi, the number one hostess, and her other co-workers and breaks the club record by rising to the number two position in just two months. But Kurumi has her eyes set at the top. Her rivalry with Mimi heats up. One night, however, Kurumi helps an inebriated Mimi out of a dangerous situation with men, and they develop a sense of camaraderie about fighting in the same jeopardous battlefield. Because of their stressful environment, Mimi develops an eating disorder, and Kurumi becomes addicted to shopping.
  One night, Mimi calls in sick and asks Kurumi to attend to Saeki, her most important customer. In the dog-eat-dog world of hostesses, Mimi had decided to trust Kurumi.
  In Eden’s VIP room, Saeki orders a bottle of Romanee Conti without batting an eye and, with eyes filled with dark lust, asks Kurumi to join him after she gets off work. Kurumi has mixed thoughts as she realizes the consequences but makes up her mind. That night, she gives into Saeki and has violent, perverted sex with him.
  After that evening, Saeki drops Mimi for Kurumi even though he and Mimi had planned on moving in together. Mimi is furious with Kurumi for her betrayal. On the other hand, Kurumi acquires a regular customer who generously spends money at the club and wins the spot as the number one hostess at the expense of isolation.
  Kurumi becomes a hostess that men would do anything to possess even if it ruins their lives. She drops Saeki when he goes broke. She makes Beethoven believe that he is special to her and makes him spend money on her, driving the ordinary businessman into a debt of 10 million yen.
  Then one day, she meets Ohno, a young finance tycoon. The encounter undermines her resolve “to not believe anything.” Against her will, Erika is helplessly drawn to her “prey” as Ohno starts opening up to her. But she has to keep moving forward and defend her position, or she’ll become her weak, old self… She continues to battle the terror she hides under the façade of her smiling face.
  The new, ultra luxurious Dulcinea, a hostess club headhunting number one hostesses from other hostess clubs in Kabukicho… Kurumi leaves Eden to work there as its poster girl. On its opening night, as onlookers watch her with praise and envy, she enters her new workplace arm in arm with Ohno like a queen that has the world in the palm of her hands.
  Then one day, something happens that rocks her fate. What does she find at the end of her desperate scramble through the town filled with lust and desire?