Doc/Fest - Sheffield

Naoki had it all in the boom days of the Japanese economy then lost it all. Now he shares a one-room windowless flat with Yoshie, a girl half his age. At 56 he is one of thousands of Japanese who have fallen through the cracks to become a class of working poor. He grits his teeth to perform the obligatory morning calisthenics at the post office before earning his pittance. The twinkle of rebellion is still alight in his eye but this love story is bound by work, pride and necessity. The destructive push-pull cycle between Naoki and Yoshie is only broken when Naoki must finally meet her father. Which wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t the same age. In over two years of filming British documentary's sinner and saint, Sean McAllister, again offers extraordinary access and returns with an absorbing a portrait of inescapable contradictions, of life and the narrow lines love and hate share.