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Love Exposure (Sion Sono, 2008)

Started by Small Man Big Horse, March 18, 2017, 04:52:02 PM

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Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Moribunderast on March 18, 2017, 11:17:47 PM
... and, most notably, STRANGE CIRCUS, which is fucking bananas.

You weren't wrong. The opening section concerning incest must be one of the bleakest and most fucked up things I've ever seen, but then it becomes really insane and often quite funny, at least until we get to the Mitsuko flashbacks again and everything after that is deranged. Love Exposure is still my favourite film of his but this takes second place.

Small Man Big Horse

Love & Peace - Which just proves you never know what you're going to get with Sono. I certainly wasn't expecting one of the sweetest and loveliest films I've seen in ages, it warmed the cockles of my heart an enormous amount and it may well be my second favourite work of his after Love Exposure, and after Lynch he's definitely my second favourite director now. It's a fantastically christmasy film with a healthy dose of magic realism and perfect viewing for this time of year. 8.8/10

Small Man Big Horse

Tag (2015) - Another Sion Sono film with an incredibly memorable opening where two buses of Japanese school girls are trundling through the countryside with everyone having a grand old time when suddenly a demonic force cuts the bus horizontally in two and only Mitsuko, who was handily picking a pen up from the floor at the time, survives. Except after running through the woods for a fair old while, encountering other corpses, she runs in to people who claim to be her friends who are still alive and they go to a school she doesn't recognise. So is she going mad? Or is something even odder afoot? It's an incredibly strange piece with moments of joy but given the opening (and an encounter with a crocodile twenty odd minutes in) I couldn't help but feel tense waiting for something to go horrible wrong and it's strangely a relief when it does. Except then every gets even crazier. It's a surreal action horror film and beautifully deranged, and absolutely insane in the best possible kind of way. 8.1/10

The only slightly annoying thing is that they use the opening theme from The Walking Dead as incidental music at certain points, not that it's a bad piece of music but it took me out of the film a bit as I wondered why they used pre-existing music. I guess Sono must have just really liked it, and to be fair it does fit proceedings well even if there aren't any zombies about.

steveh

Netflix in Taiwan (probably the rest of East Asia too) has a new cut of Love Exposure as a 10 x 28ish minutes TV series incorporating around 35 minutes of extra footage that was left out of the original film version. I'm not usually a fan of extended versions but this is a worthwhile alternative and thankfully doesn't drag. Most of the new footage I think is in the earlier half, particularly the backstory of the two main female characters. Watching in episodes over several sittings you do though lose some of the sustained emotional intensity of the original film.

C_Larence

Anyone watched his new film on Netflix, The Forest Of Love. It's my first "Exposure" to Sono and I have to say I "Love"d it. Going to check out the rest of his filmography asap. Joe Murata is the most insidious character I've ever seen in a movie, absolutely despicable but incredibly watchable.

Sin Agog

Cheers for the tip, clarence.  Doubtful I'd've known that was on there without it, as it's not the kind of thing internet flicks gives you alerts for.  Sounds kinda odd and trashy in a good way.  Doesn't he also have a series on Amazon (not seen it yet- any cop?)?

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: C_Larence on October 20, 2019, 10:10:54 AM
Anyone watched his new film on Netflix, The Forest Of Love. It's my first "Exposure" to Sono and I have to say I "Love"d it. Going to check out the rest of his filmography asap. Joe Murata is the most insidious character I've ever seen in a movie, absolutely despicable but incredibly watchable.

I'd not heard about it at all so thanks for the heads up, shall definitely watch it very soon.

C_Larence

Quote from: Sin Agog on October 20, 2019, 11:21:00 AM
Cheers for the tip, clarence.  Doubtful I'd've known that was on there without it, as it's not the kind of thing internet flicks gives you alerts for.  Sounds kinda odd and trashy in a good way.  Doesn't he also have a series on Amazon (not seen it yet- any cop?)?

It is very odd, and very trashy indeed. I actually only watched it because someone online compared it to CaB favourite Nirvanna The Band The Show. The similarity beginning and ending with the fact that one of the characters is called Jay. Very glad I was essentially tricked into it though, as it's really opened my eyes to Japanese cinema. I believe the amazon show is Tokyo Vampire Hotel, I've heard mixed things, but might check it out eventually.

rasta-spouse


He's certainly churning a lot of stuff out each year for a guy in his late fifties. I watched the two Shinjuku Swan movies he did recently and found them only ok. Is Sono considered a top-tier director in Japan or is their film scene so well funded and fertile that even oddball directors can get constant work?

lazarou

Quote from: rasta-spouse on October 20, 2019, 12:52:07 PM
He's certainly churning a lot of stuff out each year for a guy in his late fifties. I watched the two Shinjuku Swan movies he did recently and found them only ok. Is Sono considered a top-tier director in Japan or is their film scene so well funded and fertile that even oddball directors can get constant work?

He must have some degree of clout as I've heard a couple of his one-time Sushi Typhoon colleagues complaining that they can't get a fraction of the budgets they used to (the most extreme example being a Noboru Iguchi interview where he reveals his budgets are around a tenth of what they used to be, and they weren't much to begin with). Basically if it's not a sequel or a manga adaptation you can do one. Feels like the rise of streaming coupled with the arse falling out of the dvd market has really hit a lot of cult filmmakers hard over there. Or at least the specific little subset I'm a fan of.

Sin Agog

#40
A few episodes into his Amazon project, Tokyo Vampire Hotel, and I'm actually kind of loving this.  Some of Sono's hyperviolence, such as in the aforementioned Forest of Love, is a bit too rich for my blood.  I think I used to have a thicker stomach in my early 20s.  But in a 'fantasy' context it actually becomes almost fun.  That probably makes me a soyboy who can't handle reality, but what're you gonna do?  I guess when it comes to social commentary and the quality of script/performances, this isn't him at his best, but I don't think he always gets credit for how fucking great he is at setting up tense scenes that go south in innumerably unpredictable ways (you know, the thing latterday Tarantino is often credited for).  Some typically wild ideas in here...like an ancient vampire with a cabal of subordinates in her vagina.  Supposedly the film edit is all the quiet moments taken out with nothing but the headier shots and action sequences kept in, almost to the point where it's 'experimental in its unrelentingness,' but I'm really digging the series so far.  Got a pretty bad rap in some places, but if you're into gory, silly cult movies and whatnot, this should be up your alley.

EDIT:  Forgot to mention, they got one of my favourite math rock bands Tricot to do the theme tune, which is nice of them.

Osmium

^Currently watching this after meaning to get round to it since it came out. Got a few episodes left but I reckon it's probably better served in the cut down film version, I imagine that's pretty wild because even this version isn't the most sensical thing. Good dumb fun for the most part. Kaho is great, Megumi Kagurazaka (Sono's missus) is as good as she is in the rest of his stuff.

I think I'll give the episodic version of Love Exposure a go when I'm done. Been years since I watched the film but I'm sure that version is just excellent.

Small Man Big Horse

dissolute ocelot mentioning Suicide Club in the non-new films thread reminded me it had been a while since I'd watched a Sono film and so I checked out Everyone Is Psychic!: The Movie (aka The Virgin Psychics), a superhero sex comedy with two students who can read minds, a restaurant owner with telekinetic powers who can only move "erotic items", a woman who can turn people in to sex dolls, a boy who can teleport but only without clothes, and a woman who can see the future of anyone who stares at her breasts among various others. It's shockingly daft but also pretty dodgy given the number of shots of school girls in their underwear, even if they are played by women over 18, there's a fair amount of discussion of the way Sono portrays women in the thread, and here it's often pretty unforgivable as to how exploitative it feels. Which is a shame because if you can ignore that aspect of the film there's a fair amount to like about it, it's very silly but sometimes absurdly mad, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to enjoying it, even if I felt very dirty afterwards. So it's a kind of 6.5.0/10 affair if you're forgiving, but if you're not it's a 3.0/10.

chveik

watched Cold Fish and Why Don't Play in Hell? last week. pretty fun stuff overall but they really could have used some more editing

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: chveik on May 01, 2021, 11:23:12 PM
watched Cold Fish and Why Don't Play in Hell? last week. pretty fun stuff overall but they really could have used some more editing

I really liked Why Don't You Play In Hell?, my memory of it is that it was ridiculously daft over the top fun, but I've never seen Cold Fish so will have to remedy that soon.

C_Larence

I watched Antiporno the other day and liked it a lot. There's a great bit halfway through that's directly taken from an early twilight zone episode

chveik

Tag an exhausting watch. visually striking opening but turn quickly into tedious 'have your cake and eat it' meta-horror wank.

The Forest of Love very similar to Cold Fish and basically a 'greatest hits' of his usual themes. the final twists are particularly idiotic. still an enjoyable way to pass the time, if you don't think too much about morally bankrupt the whole thing his. good for him to spend  netflix money on that though, i feel sorry for people who watched the extended cut.

dissolute ocelot

I've been through a bit of a binge, starting with Suicide Club which I loved: the start is almost unwatchable, but it's got far more pleasures than just people dying. It's always hard to do a film that seems to be pulling towards a big cosmic reveal of something massive and all-encompassing conspiracy, but by the end they could have come up with the world's stupidest explanation and I wouldn't have minded. And most of Sono's work seems to sit around my personal limits as a horror viewer, so he matches my taste in that I'm shocked but not too shocked.

Tag has less pretence to being a commentary on Japanese society, or whatever people say about Suicide Club. Definitely a lot of fun, and the first part is brilliant. But it doesn't seem to go anywhere in particular, and if it was intended as a comment on Japanese society or culture, it failed.

Antiporno felt a bit less original, echoes of a lot of stuff like Fassbinder and a spate of recent films copying 1970s softcore porn (as well as actual 70s softcore stuff and sexy art movies). Maybe it made too much sense
Spoiler alert
as a study of power struggles between actors
[close]
.

And I enjoyed Tokyo Vampire Hotel a lot. As a ten part series it really feels like you're being taken on an epic journey. It doesn't hurt that it's packed full of glamorous people in amazing clothes, but some of the cast is really good. Kaho as K particularly, compelling whenever she was onscreen whether doing swordplay or just being kind of cute but threatening. The opening cafe/bar siege must be one of the best openings ever, and nicely set up the moral ambiguity of the whole thing, where you don't really care who's good or evil or who lives or dies because everyone's cool. And a lot of people get killed. Although it helps that there seems to be a certain amount of (as you'd expect from vampires)
Spoiler alert
people being less dead than they seem or just getting dumped in hell dimensions or something
[close]
.

It also managed some nice shifts in tone, so I didn't begrudge it too much all the going on and on about vampire clans (I suspected some irony having watched enough Japanese historical epics that begin with history lessons); the flashbacks are infinitely better than anything in Buffy or a lot of shows' vision of kitsch eastern Europe. The penultimate episode
Spoiler alert
where they're just all hanging out in the hotel is nice and gentle
[close]
and overall it's a tribute to Sono's talents as someone who can do both quiet character moments and insanely huge battles almost like something out of Bosch. It's not perfect (he is a little bit too obsessed with young girls), and a few bits do sag and some story threads don't really have a payoff, but I can't imagine compressing it to a film: it needs the space to keep moving and keep surprising and occasionally keep you waiting.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: dissolute ocelot on June 03, 2021, 08:52:20 PM
I've been through a bit of a binge, starting with Suicide Club which I loved: the start is almost unwatchable, but it's got far more pleasures than just people dying. It's always hard to do a film that seems to be pulling towards a big cosmic reveal of something massive and all-encompassing conspiracy, but by the end they could have come up with the world's stupidest explanation and I wouldn't have minded. And most of Sono's work seems to sit around my personal limits as a horror viewer, so he matches my taste in that I'm shocked but not too shocked.

Tag has less pretence to being a commentary on Japanese society, or whatever people say about Suicide Club. Definitely a lot of fun, and the first part is brilliant. But it doesn't seem to go anywhere in particular, and if it was intended as a comment on Japanese society or culture, it failed.

Antiporno felt a bit less original, echoes of a lot of stuff like Fassbinder and a spate of recent films copying 1970s softcore porn (as well as actual 70s softcore stuff and sexy art movies). Maybe it made too much sense
Spoiler alert
as a study of power struggles between actors
[close]
.

And I enjoyed Tokyo Vampire Hotel a lot. As a ten part series it really feels like you're being taken on an epic journey. It doesn't hurt that it's packed full of glamorous people in amazing clothes, but some of the cast is really good. Kaho as K particularly, compelling whenever she was onscreen whether doing swordplay or just being kind of cute but threatening. The opening cafe/bar siege must be one of the best openings ever, and nicely set up the moral ambiguity of the whole thing, where you don't really care who's good or evil or who lives or dies because everyone's cool. And a lot of people get killed. Although it helps that there seems to be a certain amount of (as you'd expect from vampires)
Spoiler alert
people being less dead than they seem or just getting dumped in hell dimensions or something
[close]
.

It also managed some nice shifts in tone, so I didn't begrudge it too much all the going on and on about vampire clans (I suspected some irony having watched enough Japanese historical epics that begin with history lessons); the flashbacks are infinitely better than anything in Buffy or a lot of shows' vision of kitsch eastern Europe. The penultimate episode
Spoiler alert
where they're just all hanging out in the hotel is nice and gentle
[close]
and overall it's a tribute to Sono's talents as someone who can do both quiet character moments and insanely huge battles almost like something out of Bosch. It's not perfect (he is a little bit too obsessed with young girls), and a few bits do sag and some story threads don't really have a payoff, but I can't imagine compressing it to a film: it needs the space to keep moving and keep surprising and occasionally keep you waiting.

I'm with you on both Suicide Club and Tag, I enjoyed the latter's gory madness but like you say, if it's trying to say anything it doesn't succeed. And I liked Antiporno a fair bit more, but somehow have yet to see any Fassbinder so that might be why.

And cheers for your thoughts on Tokyo Vampire Hotel, that's been sitting on my hard drive for a while as mixed reviews slightly put me off, but I'll definitely watch it soon now.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: dissolute ocelot on June 03, 2021, 08:52:20 PM
And I enjoyed Tokyo Vampire Hotel a lot. As a ten part series it really feels like you're being taken on an epic journey. It doesn't hurt that it's packed full of glamorous people in amazing clothes, but some of the cast is really good. Kaho as K particularly, compelling whenever she was onscreen whether doing swordplay or just being kind of cute but threatening. The opening cafe/bar siege must be one of the best openings ever, and nicely set up the moral ambiguity of the whole thing, where you don't really care who's good or evil or who lives or dies because everyone's cool. And a lot of people get killed. Although it helps that there seems to be a certain amount of (as you'd expect from vampires)
Spoiler alert
people being less dead than they seem or just getting dumped in hell dimensions or something
[close]
.

It also managed some nice shifts in tone, so I didn't begrudge it too much all the going on and on about vampire clans (I suspected some irony having watched enough Japanese historical epics that begin with history lessons); the flashbacks are infinitely better than anything in Buffy or a lot of shows' vision of kitsch eastern Europe. The penultimate episode
Spoiler alert
where they're just all hanging out in the hotel is nice and gentle
[close]
and overall it's a tribute to Sono's talents as someone who can do both quiet character moments and insanely huge battles almost like something out of Bosch. It's not perfect (he is a little bit too obsessed with young girls), and a few bits do sag and some story threads don't really have a payoff, but I can't imagine compressing it to a film: it needs the space to keep moving and keep surprising and occasionally keep you waiting.

I just watched the first episode but bar the opening bit I haven't read your post for spoiler related reasons so apologies if I repeat anything you've said, but I really enjoyed the first episode of Tokyo Vampire Hotel so thank you for the recommendation. The violence is extreme but Sono makes it feel quite disturbing (so unlike Tag, then) and one particular aspect that I liked is that terrible things happen to the lead character and unlike 99% of films or tv shows she's absolutely freaked the fuck out by them, I'm sure over time that'll change but it's a pleasing to see a reaction to violence handled in a believable manner for once.

H-O-W-L

I watched Love Exposure on Film4 like ten years ago (fuck me!) and I remember loving it. Need to rewatch it, and really do another round-trip of Japanese film as a whole.

zomgmouse

I'm doing a bit of a 2020 catch-up in the next little while - Sono made a film that came out in 2020 called Red Post on Escher Street (which is "available"), and I wanted to watch a couple more of his films before watching that (as I hadn't seen anything but Antiporno, as SMBH quoted on the previous page).

Watched Love Exposure with a friend last night. Lots of people have remarked on how the 4hr runtime breezed by and they're not wrong. Does not feel its length at all. Really incredible, almost 5 stars for me. So much happens and the pace of change and new information is so self-assured. Goes to some extreme places but has a real genuine soul to it which balances it out.

Today I watched Cold Fish. It's a nice contrast tonally, though I think ultimately doesn't entirely work as well. I'm still thinking about the main character's transformation, whether it is believable or not. It's certainly remarkable but maybe this time moves a bit too fast. Lots of blood though.

zomgmouse

Watched Why Don't You Play in Hell? today. Really liked this, had a lot of that youthful naive ridiculousness of Love Exposure. I think it lost some of its momentum in the middle but once it got to the final fight (and particular all the awkward technical film set shenanigans) it gained it all back.

Should be watching Red Post on Escher Street next week.

zomgmouse

Quote from: zomgmouse on June 29, 2021, 03:31:11 AM
Should be watching Red Post on Escher Street next week.

Watched this today - it's once again visiting the theme of cinema, with the story of many many actresses who audition for a leading role. Poses some interesting questions about "being an extra vs main character" in life, but never really goes full throttle and the climax doesn't quite spark everyone's stories together. But I liked it.

Small Man Big Horse

Rather horribly it turns out that the man is a cunt, at least if the allegations are true which they seem to be: https://www.avclub.com/japanese-director-sion-sono-accused-sexual-assault-1848750948

QuoteJapanese director Sion Sono accused of sexual assault and misconduct by multiple women
The accusations come as part of a recent wave of allegations against other men in the Japanese film industry

Two women have come forward with sexual assault allegations against cult Japanese director Sion Sono. Sono has also been accused of trading sex for roles throughout his career. The 60-year-old most recently directed 2021's Prisoners Of The Ghostland starring Nicolas Cage. He's known for his work on Love Exposure, Suicide Club, and the miniseries Tokyo Vampire Hotel.

"Even now, there is a director who has no qualms about saying 'If you screw me, I'll give you work'. His films are acclaimed and many actresses want to appear in them. He uses that to assault women as if it's nothing. That director is Sion Sono," an executive at a Japanese film distributor writes in the weekly magazine Shukan Josei.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, one of the unnamed actresses in the Shukan Josei piece alleges the director tried to force her to have sex with him after he offered her a part in one of his films. After she refused, she says he invited in another actress who he had previously worked with, and the two began engaging in sexual acts in front of the woman. Left in shock, she was led outside by an assistant director. Believing he was going to help her, she followed him but he allegedly attempted to take her to a love hotel.

Actor Matsuzaki Yuki tweeted about the allegations last Sunday, stating that offering roles for sex and other forms of sexual harassment was "Sono['s] usual MO—There are dozens of victims," per Variety.


In a statement shared this morning, Sion wrote, "To whom it may concern. Thank you very much for your continued support. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and concern this may have caused to all parties concerned. We will make a new announcement after sorting out the facts."

These allegations come on the heels of a rising wave of sexual assault accusations in Japan, as director Hideo Sakaki and his friend Houka Kinoshita were also recently accused of multiple sexual assaults.

Famous Mortimer

That's a dogshit statement, even in a field where there are a lot of dogshit statements.

zomgmouse


Dayraven

QuoteThat's a dogshit statement, even in a field where there are a lot of dogshit statements.
You'd almost think it was Sono's out of office email response.


Blinder Data

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on April 06, 2022, 02:46:00 PMThat's a dogshit statement, even in a field where there are a lot of dogshit statements.

It's very bad - slight caveat that it's so oddly worded I should think it's a poor translation.