Love Exposure
Directed by: Sion Sono Starring: Takahiro Nishijima, Atsuro Watabe, Sakura Ando, Hikari Mitsushima Synopsis: After the untimely death of his mother, Yu Tsunoda (Takahiro Nishijima) is raised by his father,Tetsu, who becomes a catholic priest. Everything is idyllic until Tetsu has a tempestuous affair with one of his parishioners. When she leaves him, Tetsu becomes a darker person, transferring his guilt upon his son who he forces to attend confession every day. In order to satisfy his father’s assertions that he is sinful, Yu must go out and actually commit sins so he has something to confess! Falling in with a streetgang, Yu studies the art of covert panty photography, which he excels at. However he comes to the attention of Aya Koike (Sakura Ando) – a con artist, coke dealer, the regional leader of a bizarre religious cult called the Church of Zero and a victim of paternal abuse – who decides she can use the wayward "king of perverts" for her own means. Shortly after their auspicious meeting, a cross-dressing incident resulting from a lost bet also brings Yu into contact with Kurt Cobain-loving, but otherwise totally man-hating, schoolgirl Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima), with whom he falls instantly in love. The fates of this trio become hopelessly connected and sealed when Yu's father decides to give up the cloth to marry his lover and Yu discovers that Yoko is about to become his stepsister! Review:When I first heard of Love Exposure I was immediately turned off. A four hour epic? Seriously? Sounds like a snooze-fest at best. Then I saw the above trailer and was blown away, and knew instantly that I had to see every minute of this film.The first thing you need to know about Love Exposure is that, even at four hours, it moves at a very brisk pace. For the first hour or so, we follow Yu and his difficult teen years as his father continually berates him for not confessing his sins – the truth is, Yu is an upstanding boy who hasn’t done anything bad. After a timid attempt at wrong-doing, his father leaves him in disgust. In order to reconnect with his father he must commit as many sins as possible. 
His new friends take him to see a guru of perversion, who teaches Yu the art of upskirt photography. This whole sequence is a parody of the martial arts movie training sequence, as we watch Yu perform a whole multitude of poses and flips, ninja-style, all to take a few covert shots of women’s panties. He even has a camera on a yo-yo, Sukeban Dekka style.Throughout this period of the film, there are hints of a Big Event coming – caption cards counting down to a “miracle”. The film also uses the theme from Bolero to good effect, working to the music’s rhythms in such a way that I found it stuck in my head for days afterwards. 
Once the “miracle” occurs though, the film switches perspectives and we are given in-depth backgrounds on three characters we’ve already met, which takes the film in some very interesting directions.And when I say “interesting” I mean completely wild and unpredictable. The film lurches from one extreme to another – I won’t go into detail, so you may go and discover it for yourselves. In lesser hands, this would denigrate into a turgid mess but Sion Sono doesn’t allow his many ingredients to overpower each other. The performances are superb: of the three female leads, Sakura Ando has the most playful role and seems to revel in the delicious evilness of her character. Takahiro Nishijima’s sympathetic central performance as Yu keeps the film driving along and ensures the many plot-lines remain cohesive. 
Verdict:Perverse, shocking, and full of high drama, Love Exposure is an incredibly engrossing film which can honestly say it has something for everyone. Highly recommended. 9 out of 10 (MikeOutWest) New! CommentsHave your say about this! Leave me a comment in the box below. |
