sorry, but it’s a f***ing masterpiece.!
never saw a movie like this before.
and you think totally right…it’s 4 hours of insane brilliance!
it’s difficult for me writing about it, cause a human being
cannot write about this movie….aaaarghhh…
but i will…next time…english is not my native language,
so i need to write and translate it later in english
I have seen Suicide Club a few times, and I’ve seen Noriko’s Dinner Table, Strange Circus and Hair Extensions. I have not seen Love Exposure, but as soon as I can, I will.
I think Sono could become one of the greats. I did have trouble with some of the subject matter and violence in Strange Circus. It’s one of the few films I give a strong caution about before recommending. I do think it was beautifully made, which is why I recommend watching it.
I also think about what may have been lost on me due to translation issues.
“I have seen Suicide Club a few times, and I’ve seen Noriko’s Dinner Table, Strange Circus and Hair Extensions. I have not seen Love Exposure, but as soon as I can, I will.”
Exactly me, and I own them.
“I also think about what may have been lost on me due to translation issues.”
Also agreed, though I re-watched Suicide Club again after watching some Michael Jackson videos, and I think I understand a little better how the Japanese, being introduced to American pop culture, could then be inspired by that pop culture into other realms of translation and weirdness, and then from there have people with a critical eye watch what is going on to Japanese culture and come up with horror comedies like this to comment on them. Hair Extensions is probably his easiest one to understand, but I do think that Sono is a lot more of a intuitive filmmaker than a planned one—he seems to go for what will work to get you emotionally and psychologically into the story rather than what will make rote narrative sense. I like that.
On the other hand, part of my fascination with Japanese culture comes, admittedly, from the fact that I don’t understand a lot of what is going on. Which is why I’m saving up to go there sometime to learn more about it.
Four hours of Sion Sono, I admit, will be a little much. But I’ll do it. I’ve already given so many other hours to him……
—PolarisDiB
I have no idea what any of them were saying (although you can tell a lot from their tones),
but I want to see this right away.
Great trailer. Now I have to check out this guy’s films.
Thanks for responding everyone, I love this guys films and would like to see his earlier films(like Hazard). Does anyone know where I can find them with English sub’s. If your having trouble with Suicide Club maybe this can help. I read an article about a Japanese middle school student. She killed one of her class mates because her favorite movie was Battle Royal. After stabbing her to death in a empty class room the calmly walked into class and set down covered in blood. After this the girl became a pop culture sensation in Japan. Everywhere you looked you could find an anime character adaptation of her. I do not know to what extent she was everywhere being I am not in Japan but I think it shows how addicted to pop culture people can be over there. Another example would be the banana shortage that happened about a year ago. Some POP idol singer or something got on this banana diet and then so did everyone else in Japan supposedly. They way increased the import of banana’s and by the time any got into a store they were gone. As far as I can tell Japan is even more obsessed with pop culture than Americans are. I hope that helps someone.
Do you have any articles or anything you’ve saved up about this information? Because I would love to research into this myself, that sort of information fascinates me.
—PolarisDiB
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1850454,00.html
Here is a link to the Banana Diet on times and I found the girl killer on Wikipedia, I may have a few details wrong so check it out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasebo_slashing
Thanks!
—DiB
My copy of Strange Circus has an interview with Sono (I think pre-Noriko) with him talking about a film he will be making that may answer some of the open-ended plot points of Suicide Club (my words, not his). I think he may have been referring to Noriko’s Dinner Table, which answered a few Suicide Club questions, but, in turn, (for me, anyway) raised even more. One of the reasons I like Suicide Club so much is because it does NOT tie everything up in a neat package. Unless I missed more than I think (the translation thing combined with cultural differences), I was left holding a bag of many unanswered questions, which was Sono’s intention (I think).
I’m not sure who may or may not be aware of that interview, so I thought I’d answer again. And if any of you could direct me to any sites that may help me to further understand the cultural differences, and clear up some of the translation confusions, please post them here.
This is in my ’Wants to Watch" list. Nice to know others are interested too.
I haven’t seen it yet but I’ve ordered the DVD that’s going to be released later this month. If it arrives safe and sound and I get to watch it, I’ll be sure to come back to write my impression on it. (=
Thanks a lot vspirit. Let me know if it has english subs.
Oh, wow, Sion Sono. I’d never heard of him. Sounds like he has enthusiastic fans so I pulled up some videos on Google. First one: Suicide Circle Train Jump Ok, so, I’m traumatized now. Thanks for that. I’m going to now crawl into a corner and listen to Stevie Wonder until the world doesn’t seem like such a terrible place.
I have read bad reviews of Suicide Club but this film looks and sounds excellent. In the very unlikely chance that it opens here, I will be the first in line to see it.
Please Jay, give him a chance and view an entire film by Sono before judging. I will warn, his films can be a bit graphic. Your post was funny as crap though.
Law, Suicide Club has been on DVD for a few years now. You either love it or hate it as with many great films.
I assure, I’m not judging. I’m actually impressed. The scene was very powerful as I’m sure he meant it toe be. It was just…. horrifying. I would like to check out some of his work. I just don’t think I’ll start with that one.
LOL
Three reviews over at Twitchfilm:
Twitch – NYAFF 09 Review: LOVE EXPOSURE
http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/fantasia-09-review-love-exposure/
Twitch – LOVE EXPOSURE: Another Take
http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/22314/
Twitch – NYAFF 09 Review: LOVE EXPOSURE
http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/22309/
(couldn’t figure out how to make live links, sorry)
Just saw Love Exposure last night and I have to concur with Samir upthread that the film is a masterpiece. In terms of structure it’s a fairly traditional romantic comedy at its core drawn out to an epic length and filtered through the motifs of recent Japanese cult cinema (Miike splatter, sexual perversity, cult religious stuff, etc).
I saw Love Exposure at one of its three screenings at the Fantasia Film Fest here in Montreal. The 600+ seat theater was sold out each time, and for a couple dates, days in advance. I was lucky to get in!
Being new to the universe of Sion Sono, I had no idea what to expect. Having lived in Japan for two years, I’ve developed a certain taste for the obscure and the quirky, but this movie blew me away. The four hour-long experience is similar to reading 20 consecutive issues of a dark and twisted manga, at which point you almost lose touch with reality. What struck me the most though were some of the movie’s painfully realistic aspects, pertaining to the unsaid and the denial of truth.
The Fantasia crowd is a fun, wild bunch. Everyone cheered, winced, whistled, applauded or gasped at the screen as if the characters could hear us. I was so positively impressed with this experience that I spent most of my weekend looking for a serious website such as this one to share my thoughts! Either that or I was about to start my own cult to Hikari Mitsushima – her stunning performance is a true tour de force.
The 3-DVD set (would a single blu-ray disc suffice?) is due out on July 24 in Japan, void of any subtitles. While I can get my hand on the original, I’d rather wait for a subbed version because I feel the need to share this movie with everyone I know. Some critics doubt Phantom Films have the means to push an effective international release, as they never expected such a success. I’ll keep hoping for the best though!
[Sitenoise: we can’t make live links without BBcode…]
WOW thanks very much ETIENNE that sounds awesome!
I also saw Love Exposure at Fantasia this year, and to put it simply, it must have been one of the most significant cinematic expericences of my lifetime, along with the 101 Dalmatians (being the first ever hahaha.). This movie is something else. It’s not always good, but it sure is a masterpiece in it’s own right, a cinematic oddity worth checking out.
I added this film to my watchlist just because of its running time, not knowing who the director was or what the film was about. From what I’ve seen and read here, it sounds fantastic. I can’t wait for it to be shown in our city!
Alritey, I’ve watched the movie on DVD already—three times and counting—and I must say, it has deeply impressed me. A very moving piece of work with more heart put in it than my mother’s curry chicken pie—and she puts a lot of love into making it.
I wrote a longer review/thoughts/impression thing here (http://vspirit.livejournal.com/25371.html) so feel free to read it. =)
And no, the DVD does not come with subtitles. You don’t even get to choose chapters. But the DVD with all the extras has about 180 mins worth of material on it (including a compilation of Tetsu’s Sunday sermons). I have yet to finish watching that one yet. I’ll slowly savor it later.
A couple of our writers discussed Love Exposure when it played at the New York Asian Film Festival last month.
Saw it yesterday at the cinema with a lot of friends. And I was blon away. A Masterpiece, and definitely a film for this years Top 10 .
Just wanted to randomly rave about it here on the forum, and find some other people who are nthusiasti about it. :-D
Hello All,
Apologies of this information has been posted elsewhere already but I stumbled across this thread whilst trying to seek information as to whether the Japanese domestic DVD release of ‘Love Exposure’ carried English subtitles; now, from the information above and elsewhere, it unfortunately doesn’t appear to by all accounts but, as it happens, a UK DVD release is just around the corner on 25th January 2010!
As this is my first post here, I don’t know whether it’s prudent for me to post links to specific online stores and the like so I’ll refrain from doing so on this occasion but it’s available with the usual major retailers – do be aware however that some stores are detailing it’s release for 11th January, but the distributors website at….
http://thirdwindowfilms.com/
… details that the film has been pushed back to the 25th instead.
I think what’s great about Love Exposure is that even as it veers off into these weird, ridiculous directions, Sono never loses respect for his characters. Hilarious, over-the-top, and moving all at the same time! The content is familiar, but this is definitely his masterpiece so far as his genre-shifting (destroying?) style is concerned.
Does anyone know when the DVD will be released in the USA? I can’t wait to see it. Sono is my hero.
D. Voluntaryist
Is anyone else looking foreword to seeing Love Exposure. It was directed by Sion Sono(Noriko’s Dinner Table, Suicide Club, Strange Circus). I think it’s going to be 4 hours of insane brilliance. Has anyone seen it? Thoughts?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndqMKd61Wrg