Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Love Exposure (2009)
Director: Shion Sono
Movie review
From Time Out London
Forget ‘Titanic’. Sono Shion’s four-hour countercultural romantic epic is surely the ‘Gone with the Wind’ de nos jours. Novelistic in scope and emotional richness, ‘Love Exposure’ details the long and winding courtship of star-crossed lovers Yu (Takahiro Nishijima) and Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima). These dysfunctional, hypersensitive Japanese teens and their quest for erotic and spiritual enlightenment make for a swooning, often riotously funny melodrama charged with a refreshingly perverse undertow.Yu is the son of a priest but is relentlessly driven towards a life of sin. He learns kung fu with the help of a local street gang. Then he becomes a world champion up-skirt photographer, a pastime he relishes, believing that one day he will snap the panties of his true love. Coming to the rescue of aggressive tearaway Yoko in a street fight, he exhibits a humungous bulge in his slacks that suggests that destiny is calling. But matters are complicated by the fact that, at the time, he happens to be disguised as svelte femme warrior Ms Scorpion, and Yoko’s subsequent decision that she’s a lesbian.
On paper, it sounds like lo-fi madcap idiocy, but Sono manages to elevate this potentially seedy and glib yarn to something approaching pop-philosophical genius. He does this by focusing on a very small group of characters and is served by a clutch of utterly committed, unselfconscious performances from actors who genuinely understand and believe in the material. A segment about religious cult deprogramming in the final hour is perhaps a twist too far, but for the most part this is a film that will have you tingling with pleasure from charming start to heart-pounding finish.
Author: David Jenkins
Time Out London Issue 2045, Oct 29 – Nov 4 2009
User reviews of this film
-
- natasha said...
- Posted on Nov 18 2009 10:30 Yep its 4hrs but its definately a journey - wacky, weird, wonderful and laughably Japanese - would definately recommend!
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Shion Sono
Cast: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 237 mins
UK Release: Oct 30 2009
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now