Of Love & Law
- Director: Hikaru Toda
CGiii Comment
Whoever said there is no such a thing as a good lawyer ought to meet this couple!
Both under-paid, self-employed lawyers...really, for the greater good, this Japanese gay couple open their hearts and minds for all the world to see. They are complete opposites...who are perfectly synched to each - there is a certain tragi-comedic vein to their relationship. In places, it's emotional, it's funny...but, most of all, it's utterly, utterly charming.
If a documentary's raison d'être is to enlighten, educate and entertain...then, Of Love & Law fulfills the criteria admirably. Learn about Japanese culture and ' reading the air' - hear some pretty nifty legal arguments and listen to some truly awful singing!
An affectionate film that will warm the cockles of your heart. Quite, quite lovely.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Fumi and Kazu have a lot to teach us about love. When they decide to stick their necks out and create the first LGBTQ+ law firm in Japan, they are drawn into the lives of people searching for protection and support. Despite their own relationship having no legal status, they work pro-bono for long hours, all the while foster-parenting a teenager. We meet with a colourful cast of misfits, dissidents and artists – from a delightful eccentric being prosecuted for her kitschy vagina sculptures, to a troubled outsider who, as the child of an ‘immoral woman’, has no legal identity. A saying is repeated throughout the film, that one must ‘read the air’ – conform to the tacit conservatism that forbids sexual diversity. With love, humour and serious legal chops, Fumi and Kazu do exactly the opposite.
Jay Bernard