Let Me Hear It Barefoot (UK Premiere)

Kudo Riho
裸足で鳴らしてみせろ
2021
Japan
127

BFI Southbank

23 April

Sunday

3:10pm

Naomi, a student dropout, only believes in things he can touch. He works for his father’s waste collection company and hopes to escape his claustrophobic existence. One day, he befriends the happy-go-lucky Maki, and the pair begin making sound recordings of imaginary places for Midori, a blind woman with whom Maki lives. She has always dreamed of travelling but never been abroad. As the two young men spend more and more time together, they begin to express their growing intimacy through rough playfighting. But soon, their actions acquire a hurtful intensity that threatens to overwhelm their friendship. Offering a rare female perspective on male coming-of-age, director Kudo Riho crafts an incisive portrayal of sadomasochistic repression, calling into question the relationship between what we see, hear, and touch.