Diary of Beloved Wife: White Room

Sachiko and Yoshida are newlyweds, and have just moved into a newly-constructed apartment with completely white rooms. It’s reasonable to expect that they would be enjoying their newlywed life, but Sachiko is refusing to go along with Yoshida’s sexual demands. One day, Yoshida’s junior colleague, Kato, shows him a video. Its title is White Room: Evening Classroom Inspection, and in it a girl is shown holding a photograph of her mother against her thigh while engaged in fondling. But the astounding thing is that it is a room in their newly-constructed apartment! Yoshida stealthily takes the video home, but Sachiko sees what it contains.

Directed by Hisashi Saito, Diary of Beloved Wife: White Room leans on a strong ensemble — Koromo Tomosato, Yohta Kawase, Chigusa Takaku — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about screen titles of 2006.