"You or me, the one who dies last will have the chance to spit on the other's grave." 🔥💀

Immortal Love is a portrait of a woman failed by circumstance, abandoned by the ever-absent gods, seemingly adopted by misfortune, and damned to endure an uncharmed life.

Imagine being abused in the worst way imaginable and then being coerced to wed said abuser despite already being engaged to the love of your life…

Hideko Takamine flawlessly portrays Sadako, a scorned woman who lives a stolen existence. In a world where fairness is pure fairytale, and in a home void of true happiness, perpetual grudge begets unending strife. Throughout, you can taste the bitterness between Sadako and her h̶u̶s̶b̶a̶n̶d̶ mortal enemy Heibei (convincingly portrayed by Tatsuya Nakadai).

While it's easy to fully side with Sadako given her plight, what makes this film great is its complexity. Sadako and Heibei's children are unfortunately the cursed fruits of a poisonous tree. Because Sadako (understandably!) refuses to forgive or forget the life and love Heibei deprived her of, said loathing seeps into her view/treatment of their children.

Despite some efforts to do right by Sadako, Heibei is undoubtedly worthy of contempt. Even so, Sadako isn't blameless. It's fascinating to witness how righteous rage can become warped, how it can lead to splash damage, how it can contort into misplaced cruelty. Sadako is a victim, a resilient survivor, and a beautiful soul, but trauma has the capacity to unprettily scar even the best of us.

As the saying goes, hurt people hurt people. That's certainly the case here. Within this complex story involving complicated characters, there's enough resentment and torment and sorrow to fuel the world.

A film in which the animosity is so goddamn palpable being titled Immortal Love is perhaps the greatest throw off game ever, as an infinitely more apt title would've been "Eternal Hate." 😮‍💨

Yet another woefully underseen gem worth seeking out!

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💎 Sin-core (Top 250 Feature Films)