Inspired by real stories from Tokyo’s LGBTQ+ community, Anshul Chauhan’s Tiger follows a young man as he navigates the Japanese capital’s underground queer scene, while also struggling to reconcile his chosen lifestyle with the one he left behind. Tiger had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, competing in the Vision Asia section.
Young, fit and attractive, Taiga (Takashi Kawaguchi) works at a men-only massage parlour, where he is regularly expected to perform “extra services” for his clients. He is also hoping to break into the gay porn scene, and divides his time between auditions and cruising the club scene with his friend and fellow masseur Benjiro (Kosei Kudo). But when he gets a call from his estranged sister, Minami (Maho Nonami) that their father has been hospitalised, Taiga is forced to put his professional life on hold and return to the small town he turned his back on years earlier.
As the narrative slowly unspools, Chauhan’s intricately researched drama incorporates a number of different challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community in Japan. From exposure to violence, prejudice and disease, to facing up to conservative family members and even exploring the possibilities of parenthood, Tiger tackles it all, but somehow manages to do so in a way that feels authentic and well-earned, rather than simply checking off a laundry list.
Given the nickname “Tiger” by his porno producers, Taiga has never come clean to his father about his sexuality, and is reluctant to do so as the man lies on his death bed. Minami threatens to out him, however, after discovering that the family home has been left to her brother, rather than her, even though she has stayed close to home and has a young daughter to care for.
In fact, it is Minami’s daughter, Kaede (Sakura Kasuda) who awakens in Taiga the desire to start a family of his own. Back in Tokyo he investigates the option of entering into a “friendship marriage” via an agency catering to these specialist requirements. He also reconnects with an old childhood boyfriend who now lives a straight, married existence.
Inevitably, most of Taiga’s efforts are met with resistance, anger or aggression, and Chauhan allows his film to skirt the line between melodrama and docu-realism. The effectiveness of this approach is thanks in large part to Kawaguchi’s quietly commanding central performance. He is confident in his city life, pro-active in his ambitions, yet vulnerable when removed from his comfort zone and forced to face his filial obligations.
A man of precious few words, seemingly more comfortable standing naked in front of an anonymous John than engaging in meaningful conversation with his family, Taiga is nevertheless a sympathetic protagonist, desperate to find happiness and acceptance in a fractured society of deeply conflicting opinions and worldviews.
With so many different situations and perspectives being represented, the rest of the cast inevitably come off as somewhat one-dimensional and archetypal, there to present Taiga with yet another obstacle, than to be understood and empathised with themselves. But Chauhan’s world never feels less than real and wholly relatable, and for that it should be applauded.