Old narcissus

Tsuyoshi Shôji is a touching fable about two very different gay men who meet at a decisive moment in their lives. The story tells the encounter between an elderly writer who specialises in children's books, and a BDSM sex worker. Strange bonds form between an ageing Mr Yama, who refuses to accept the deterioration of both his body and his place in society, and Leo, a young sex worker who seems to have it all: youth, beauty, health and a relentlessly optimistic outlook on life. Through a combination of colourful imagery and erotic surrealism that move away from the Japanese pop-culture codes of YAOI (fiction centred on sentimental and/or sexual relationships between male characters), Old Narcissus tells a story of true sincerity.