Love Exposure
| Love Exposure | |
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 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Sion Sono |
| Produced by | Haruo Umekawa |
| Written by | Sion Sono |
| Starring | Takahiro Nishijima Hikari Mitsushima Sakura Ando |
| Music by | Tomohide Harada |
| Cinematography | Sōhei Tanikawa |
| Editing by | Junichi Itō |
| Distributed by | Omega Project |
| Release date(s) | 2008 |
| Running time | 237 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Love Exposure (愛のむきだし Ai no mukidashi) is a 2008 Japanese film written and directed by Sion Sono. The film gained a considerable amount of notoriety in film festivals around the world for its four-hour duration and themes including love, family, lust, religion and the art of upskirt photography. The first version was originally six hours long, but was trimmed at the request of the producers. Following its release, it won many awards and positive reviews.[1] At the Berlin International Film Festival, it won the Caligari Film Award and the FIPRESCI Prize.[2]
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[edit] Plot
The story follows Yu Honda, a young teenage Catholic attempting to live his life in a faithful and orderly manner. His father, Tetsu, has become a devout Catholic priest following the death of Yu's mother, and operates his own church. Yu's father asks Yu to confess his sins, but Yu believes he is a good person, who has little to confess. At first he makes up sins, but his father sees right through him, and Yu sets out to commit real sins. Because of this, he falls in with a questionable crowd.
Yu is taught by his new friends to steal, fight, and take stealth photographs up women's skirts. Yu promptly becomes a skilled "panty shot" photographer. He is perceived as a pervert, but he is never aroused by these photographs.
After Yu loses a bet with his friends, he agrees to go into the city dressed as a woman and kiss a girl he likes. When they go into the city, Yu and his friends come across a young teenage girl named Yoko, who is surrounded by a group of thugs. Yu, still dressed as a woman, then helps Yoko beat up the gang of thugs. Afterwards he kisses Yoko and runs away. He falls in love with her - the first time he's been in love with a girl - but Yoko falls for his disguise and develops feelings for his alter ego Sasori, or "Miss Scorpion".
Meanwhile, Yu is being followed by Aya Koike, a member of the cult "Zero Church", who has become infatuated with him after she catches him taking a picture of her panties. Aya, who we are shown was sexually abused to the point that she became psychotic and set out on a series of violence sprees, including shooting every student in her class and cutting her father's penis off, devises a plan to bring Yu's entire family into the Zero Church, planning to gain the favour of Yoko by masquerading as Sasori.
[edit] Cast
- Takahiro Nishijima as Yu Honda
- Hikari Mitsushima as Yoko Ozawa
- Sakura Ando as Aya Koike
- Makiko Watanabe as Kaori Fujiwara
- Atsuro Watabe as Tetsu Honda
[edit] Awards
The film won the following awards:[2]
- Caligari Film Award - Sion Sono
- FIPRESCI Prize - Sion Sono
- Best Asian Film - Sion Sono
- Jury Prize: Best Female Performance - Hikari Mitsushima
- Most Innovative Film - Sion Sono
- Special Jury Prize - Sion Sono
- Best New Talent - Hikari Mitsushima
- Best New Actor - Takahiro Nishijima
- Best Supporting Actress - Hikari Mitsushima
- Best Director - Sion Sono
- Sponichi Grand Prize: New Talent Award - Takahiro Nishijima & Hikari Mitsushima
- Best New Talent - Hikari Mitsushima
- Best Supporting Actress - Sakura Ando
The film was also nominated for the following awards:[2]
- Achievement in Directing - Sion Sono
- Best Director - Sion Sono
[edit] References
- ^ Schilling, Mark (February 6, 2009). "Telling a lengthy tale of lust and religion". The Japan Times. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ff20090206r1.html. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
- ^ a b c Love Exposure (2008) at the Internet Movie Database
[edit] External links
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