Day 2: Japanese Romance Film

Senior Experience Foreign Film Project


Day 2: Japanese Romantic Film

Today is one of two days for the currently planned schedule where I will be watching one movie instead of two, due to the length of said movie. Today's film will be the 4 hour opus "Love Exposure (2008, dir. Sion Sono)". I'm imagining this will fit the romance and love theme a lot more than the Russian ones.

Love Exposure (2008, dir. Sion Sono)

This is a dense film, which makes sense for a 4 hour movie. It's so dense, however, that I'm not sure how to start. I think the first thing that jumps out about Love Exposure is Sion Sono's iconic style. Low-budget, fast, and oftentimes surreal, the movie is absolutely dripping with uniqueness. Of special mention is the editing. Cuts in this movie are used liberally yet incredibly purposefully, maintaining this sort of momentum throughout the daunting runtime. Imagery is constant but used with purpose, especially Christian symbolism as the movie tackles the delicate yet contradictory relationship between faith, love, and sexual desire. None of these characters are good people, but their flaws are unique to themselves. One is strong in aspects the other is weak in, and while that leads to no direct source of connection the viewer can make to those in the film, it makes for, altogether, and incredibly interesting and dynamic cast, helped by Sono's sometimes deep but often humorous writing. One part where this momentum and cast falls apart, unfortunately, is the third hour of the movie, where events lead to slower scenes that sometimes work, but oftentimes feel a bit of a pace breaker. Which is unfortunate because those first 2 hours (as well as the incredible climax) as absolutely masterful. That being said, Love Exposure is one of the most unique films I've ever seen, and one I will want to revisit, perhaps seeing the even longer TV cut. 4/5

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