Kôta Yoshida's Sexual Drive is now showing exclusively on MUBI in most countries—including the United Kingdom, India, Turkey, Ireland, Brazil, and Mexico—starting November 23, 2022, in the series Undiscovered.
Sexual Drive is an experiment to see how erotic movies can be made without direct sexual expressions.
Natto is a sticky and smelly food which is unique to Japan. I thought it would be interesting to express its slimy texture and smell in an erotic way, so I started making the first episode of Sexual Drive, “Natto.”
About two years later, I made "Mapo Tofu" and "Ramen with Extra Back Fat." I thought I could make this a series if I made Kurita, the character who appeared in "Natto," appear as a key person in the other episodes as well.
Kurita is a character who reflects my own thoughts and experiences. It's not that I'm always driven by erotic fantasies like Kurita…but just as Kurita says in "Natto," what I once felt when I was suffering from an illness, cerebral infarction, is embodied by the character.
This feeling is: “seeing things in the world from below.”
When I got the disease, I was unable to do anything for a full year, and I think that year was the most painful year of my life. The experience was very harsh, but at the same time, I learned that there are perspectives that can only be seen in the worst of times. I think that was the feeling of “seeing things in the world from below.” When the worst thing happens, we fall into feeling like all of our relationships have disappeared, and we have nothing. The sensation I felt at that time was so pure that I realized that all of the titles that adorn me are nothing more than vanity. I realized that there is an essence that cannot be seen unless in a state of such purity. I created the character of Kurita to reflect that feeling. I think that's why Kurita's words, which at first glance seem absurd, are structured to reveal truth in the film.
I think it is very meaningful for me that Kurita, who was born from my own experiences, made this series.
We hope you will enjoy Sexual Drive, in which Kurita rampages freely.