Film General : Ai no mukidashi / Love Exposure (Sion Sono, 2008)

One last review - well, comments, I don't think I can really "review" this after one viewing - before the Night comes.

This had been on my radar for years - I recall a discussion about it, I want to say around 2011-12 or so? I'm guessing PdA might have started it or at least been involved, don't know who else. That got me going, I "acquired" a copy but didn't sit down to watch it until a few days ago, by which point I had the Olive BluRay (looks fine but no extras).

What to say? 4 hours of Catholicism, upskirt photography, transvestite kung-fu super-heroics, schoolgirl outfits, cults, kidnapping, and endlessly repeated Beethoven and Ravel on the soundtrack. It's actually quite a straightforward narrative - when people call this "complex" or "challenging" they aren't using the same meanings of those words as they would if they were describing some of David Lynch's or Raoul Ruiz' films. This is a pretty straightforward boy-meets-girl romcom storyline but with all that other stuff filling it out and adding all kinds of wonderful things to think about.

Basically, high schooler Yû (Takahiro Nishijima) grows up in a devout Catholic family, and after his mother dies his father becomes a priest who eventually goes down a dark path with a woman named Kaori (Makiko Watanabe); when things end badly between them, the priest gets very strict with his son, demanding regular confessions. Yû, not having anything to confess, lies for a while but decides eventually that he has to sin, and becomes a practitioner of upskirt photography mixed with a sort of strange martial art. Eventually he meets Yôko (Hikari Mitsushima), the girl he has always dreamed of, and then things start to get weird

I have to echo a couple of other comments I've read - this did not feel anything like four hours, it flew by and is hugely entertaining, both funny and sad, sexy and repellant at various times, and I cannot wait to see it again and see how much more sense I can make of what it has to say. I should mention also that there is a lot of stuff having to do with Japanese culture here which I certainly don't get that well - the "Scorpion" character for example is something that goes back to earlier decades; I think a lot of stuff here is probably coming out of the director's own childhood in the 60s and 70s (though the film is contemporaneously set). It was done on a very low budget, which shows, but in this case I think there is a wonderful immediacy, an almost documentary quality to a fantastic plotline. And the performances by the two leads are absolutely stunning.

Most likely the best film from 2008 I've seen (knocking Charlie Kaufman from his 9 years of domination) and probably a top 5-10 for Japanese cinema at this point.


Here's to the fools who dream

I was 47 when my mother took me see it. At first glance, it seemed a discombobulating exercise in lust but upon further analysis, I came to the conclusion that it went beyond the narrative conventions.

The 2:33 radio provided an understanding of it, while the 1:87 seemed its very own beast.

Glad you liked it so much. Sion Sono is one of my favourite working directors. I also found it interesting that the title-card doesn't appear until an hour into the film.

It's probably Sono's best work but you can't go wrong with most of his other films, most notably the absolutely crazy and wonderful Yakuza crime action rap comedy musical that is 'Tokyo Tribe'.


He is not coming back. He has forgotten me.

I had seen two of his other films - Suicide Club which I liked but didn't quite "get", and Tokyo Tribe which I also loved. He's definitely ascended to my must-watch-everything-I-can list now.


Here's to the fools who dream

I loved it too. It's in my top 100 for sure.

It's just such a strange and cool film. The plot summary makes it sound absurd, and it kind of is, but the weirdness really works.

Sono is definitely one of my favorite working directors

I am Senor Velasco, I drink my milk with tabasco

I knew there were some fans here, but I don't recall any recent discussions, so couldn't remember who had seen it or pimped it. I just wish I was able to watch long films like this more often, so many of my favorites are "epics" of one sort or another but I just rarely am able to get the 4-5 hours (or more) to watch them. And I hate dividing up films - this one certainly would have suffered if watched over 2 days.


Here's to the fools who dream

I remember getting up pretty early to watch it in one sitting. As you said, the four hours really do fly by

Since you haven't seen much from Sono, I'd recommend Strange Circus, which is probably my favorite after this one (though I've only seen a small fraction of his filmography)

I am Senor Velasco, I drink my milk with tabasco

Nice writeup. As you know, I watched this pretty recently as well and am still trying to unpack all of its content. As far as my first impression, it's certainly one of the most singular and ambitious non-theatrical experiences I've had watching a film in many years. And for a film just shy of four hours in length, it really doesn't feel like it most of the time, largely due to the brisk, lively pacing. An early highlight of my 2017 viewings for sure, and one that I wouldn't mind at all revising in the near future, if I can clear up enough free time to do so - and with these forums going belly-up soon, I think I just might have a lot more free time on my hands for such an occasion.

Welcome home, Mr. Bailey

It's my favorite film. Not sure anything I write will do it justice, but it made me feel every emotion possible. So glad it has another fan!

I've loved everything I've seen from Sono - Cold Fish and Why Don't You Play in Hell? are his two next best IMO.

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What would you do - trapped in another dimension?

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I saw this a year or two ago after discovering it being discussed on FG (probably Klop Glob). Yeah this one had blown me away.

10/10

Why Don't You Play in Hell? is similar with the frenetic pacing of the first half of Love Exposure. But not all his films are frenetically paced, there is Noriko's Dinner Table which is more of an intimate character drama set in the same world as Suicide Club.

A Cosmic Experience:

The number of people listing that as one of their favorite films interests me now. I'll have to see it before my trip to Japan next month.

And OldAle, let me just say that you were one of the best posters I came across in my eight years of IMDB use.

If you must blink, do it now.