Love Exposure (Sion Sono, 2008)
**note: this write-up may seem really sloppy towards the end, sorry.
My last time watching a film pass the two and a half hour mark was Edward Yang's Yi Yi. That film was close to three hours. How about a four hour film? Sion Sono's Love Exposure is a four hour eccentric ride into religion, cults, family, love, and voyeurism. But his only film I've seen is Suicide Circle.
Yu (Takahiro Nishijima) -- the film's main protagonist -- is a high school student. His mother passed away when he was at a young age. Devout Catholics Yu's parents are, his father, Tetsu (Atsuro Watabe), decides to become a priest after her death. But before the passing of Yu's mother, she hands him a statue of the Virgin Mary. She tells him along the lines of, "promise me when you find your Maria, you'll introduce me to her." His Maria being the love he hopes to find.
Love Exposue carries many story arcs, dealing with multiple character storylines, themes, and intricacies. Sono manages to package all that into the four hour runtime. A package worthy of opening and discovering each layer of Sono's masterwork.
There is the relationship between Yu and his father. A relationship starting off strong and simmering into a broken down mess. Yu's narration -- where he narrates quite frequently in the first half of the film -- points to the visit of a sobbing Saori (Makiko Watanabe) during one of Tetsu's sermons. A visit that Yu hoped never happened. It's where, according to Yu, life goes downhill. With an up and down secret affair between Tetsu and Saori soon after, Yu's life spirals into a realm of sinning.
What better way to displease the Catholic Church -- especially his father who squeezes out every ounce of sin in Yu's forced daily confessions -- then a life of voyeurism and perversion. Hentai as they call in Japanese. Sono fuses a mix of hilarity to offset the subject matter at hand. The result is offbeat and over-the-top scenarios with Yu in acts of picture-taking up women's skirts, and sexual connotations. The humour is pulled off effectively from Sono's direction and Nishijima's dynamic performance.
The film's other protagonist is Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima). Another high school girl who can't seem to find stable ground within a family structure, caused by an unstable past relationship with her abusive and perverse father. She's tough, independent, and yet, struggles with a self-identity relating to love and her sexuality. She can't seem to fathom being with any guy. But she becomes the focal point of Yu's "Maria".
You can say Love Exposure can break in two parts, due to the different pacing and feel of each part. The first part being frantic and "stylish" -- stylish in the sense in the film-making -- while the second half conjures a more dramatic feel, but still manages to keep most of the elements found in the first half. It is in the second part of the film where we see the tension and rocky relationship build-up between Yu and Yoko.
Having said all that, we still haven't mentioned one of the film's major themes -- religion and morals. I agree with one reviewer who mentioned, leave your morals and what you know about Christianity or religion in general behind. Sono tackles Catholicism and brings it into a controversial limelight. A priest with an affair. A dark look at sinning and confession.
Within its religious themes, comes the Zero Church. A religious cult known for abducting family members and brainwashing them. They'll do whatever it takes to recruit new members. Koike (Sakura Ando), one of the cult leaders manages to infiltrate and break apart Yu's family. Once his family, including Yoko, is recruited into the Zero Church, Yu must find a way to free them from their clutches.
With a four hour film, its difficult to write about everything, while keeping it short. But one other thing I should mention is the great musical score that accompanies the film. I would even say the score helps elevate this film -- and I will say this -- into a near masterpiece.
My last time watching a film pass the two and a half hour mark was Edward Yang's Yi Yi. That film was close to three hours. How about a four hour film? Sion Sono's Love Exposure is a four hour eccentric ride into religion, cults, family, love, and voyeurism. But his only film I've seen is Suicide Circle.
Yu (Takahiro Nishijima) -- the film's main protagonist -- is a high school student. His mother passed away when he was at a young age. Devout Catholics Yu's parents are, his father, Tetsu (Atsuro Watabe), decides to become a priest after her death. But before the passing of Yu's mother, she hands him a statue of the Virgin Mary. She tells him along the lines of, "promise me when you find your Maria, you'll introduce me to her." His Maria being the love he hopes to find.
Love Exposue carries many story arcs, dealing with multiple character storylines, themes, and intricacies. Sono manages to package all that into the four hour runtime. A package worthy of opening and discovering each layer of Sono's masterwork.
There is the relationship between Yu and his father. A relationship starting off strong and simmering into a broken down mess. Yu's narration -- where he narrates quite frequently in the first half of the film -- points to the visit of a sobbing Saori (Makiko Watanabe) during one of Tetsu's sermons. A visit that Yu hoped never happened. It's where, according to Yu, life goes downhill. With an up and down secret affair between Tetsu and Saori soon after, Yu's life spirals into a realm of sinning.
What better way to displease the Catholic Church -- especially his father who squeezes out every ounce of sin in Yu's forced daily confessions -- then a life of voyeurism and perversion. Hentai as they call in Japanese. Sono fuses a mix of hilarity to offset the subject matter at hand. The result is offbeat and over-the-top scenarios with Yu in acts of picture-taking up women's skirts, and sexual connotations. The humour is pulled off effectively from Sono's direction and Nishijima's dynamic performance.
The film's other protagonist is Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima). Another high school girl who can't seem to find stable ground within a family structure, caused by an unstable past relationship with her abusive and perverse father. She's tough, independent, and yet, struggles with a self-identity relating to love and her sexuality. She can't seem to fathom being with any guy. But she becomes the focal point of Yu's "Maria".
You can say Love Exposure can break in two parts, due to the different pacing and feel of each part. The first part being frantic and "stylish" -- stylish in the sense in the film-making -- while the second half conjures a more dramatic feel, but still manages to keep most of the elements found in the first half. It is in the second part of the film where we see the tension and rocky relationship build-up between Yu and Yoko.
Having said all that, we still haven't mentioned one of the film's major themes -- religion and morals. I agree with one reviewer who mentioned, leave your morals and what you know about Christianity or religion in general behind. Sono tackles Catholicism and brings it into a controversial limelight. A priest with an affair. A dark look at sinning and confession.
Within its religious themes, comes the Zero Church. A religious cult known for abducting family members and brainwashing them. They'll do whatever it takes to recruit new members. Koike (Sakura Ando), one of the cult leaders manages to infiltrate and break apart Yu's family. Once his family, including Yoko, is recruited into the Zero Church, Yu must find a way to free them from their clutches.
With a four hour film, its difficult to write about everything, while keeping it short. But one other thing I should mention is the great musical score that accompanies the film. I would even say the score helps elevate this film -- and I will say this -- into a near masterpiece.
9 out of 10
