Aya Sugimoto stars in new film about Sada Abe

Director Rokuro Mochizuki has been working on a movie about the infamous Sada Abe, a woman who became a national sensation in 1936 after killing and castrating her lover. Titled “Johnen: Sada no Ai,” the film stars Aya Sugimoto (“Hana to Hebi”) as Abe at the time of the incident.

Sada Abe’s life has been the topic of multiple films in the past, including Nagisa Oshima’s controversially explicit “In the Realm of the Senses” (“Ai no Corrida”) and Nobuhiko Obayashi’s prize-winning “SADA.”

Kazuya Nakayama (“IZO”) will co-star as Abe’s lover Kichizo Ishida. Rock singer Yuya Uchida has also been cast in the film.

The movie, which carries an R-18 rating, opens on May 31.

Source:
Cinema Today