When Asako and Baku lock eyes at an Osaka photography exhibition, it is love at first sight – and, with the film in a playful mode - there are actual fireworks to prove it. Alas, despite Baku’s promises, their romance doesn’t march merrily towards a happily-ever-after ending. He disappears, leaving Asako to pick up the pieces. Then, two years later in Tokyo, she stumbles across his doppelgänger.
Asako 1&2, presented in competition in Cannes this year, is a sweet, smart and thoroughly idiosyncratic romantic comedy.