Pardon my shitty grammar and horrible spelling; I'm suffering from some mild form of dyslexia. I wrote that short "review" in like 10 minutes, and it usually takes me like 50 to write stuff like that, in order for it to come out correct. Just as a note.
HungFist wrote:Interesting. I thought the film's first 50 minutes was quite bad with all the over-acting from the supporting cast, artistic poetry stuff etc.
Yeah, it's true that there's some over-acting. It's pretty pert, but what I liked about it was the innocence of the 14 year old girl with a crush. I mean, you've probably met people like that; even adult females can be pert in a more mature kind of a way. You know how being in love can - especially when you're 14 - make butterflies pop out and circle inside your stomach. I just think Sono wanted to express that in stark contrast, but still in a pert, kind of innocent way. It's the caricature of the obsessively in love girl.
I just liked how Keiko tries everything to get Sumida to be interested in her; she craves attention so badly, and I felt for her because she really gives it all. It's sad, because given Sumida's condition, he gets annoyed and tired of her up-beat persona, and so her hard efforts kind of fail throughout the movie. It's hard on a 14 year old kid when reaching puberty and dealing with adolescence. Also, it shows how Sumida takes his frustration out on her when he slaps her-- that's just mean, since she only tries to be nice to him and all. But that's how fucked up a kid gets when living with such a father and mother under such circumstances.
EDIT: Actually, I once tried reciting poetry to a girl. I acted all over the place, frenetic like a little girl thinking the world will end tomorrow. So, I think that's why related to that particular sequence. And in a sense, Keiko did have a fucked up domestic live, as well. Maybe she felt the end of the world was coming.
And you know how the Japanse also use elements of theater in movies. That sequence with Keiko at the boat house, I think it could fit well into a play (simple stage set-up; boat house, couches). There's a lot of theater in Love Exposure, as well. You know, it's more expressive, which usually fits more in Japanese melodramatic plays, or something. I lack words, at this moment, to truly describe why I liked that part. I relate to it, somehow.
I guess it's subjective. I liked it; you didn't.
HungFist wrote:and I thought Sono's lost it, but then it started becoming more and and more interesting when Sono got to his usual darker track on depicting "Japanese madness", even of half of it bordered ridiculous.
I think the scene with Sumida, the knife man, and the street artist is amazing. That pretty boy street singer performing sappy songs with all those teenage girls and young women adoring him - that's the mad Japan feeding fantasy to its people who want to believe they are all sane and happy. And then we have these two genuine madmen, one who's lost it and another one who's not quite sure of what to do with his knife, clashing there with the mad Japan pretending to be normal - with horrific outcomes.
Yeah, I know that aspect of Japan, as well. I guess that was a bit of the point of the movie. I think Sono wanted it be more "out there" for people to see. I totally understand that part of the movie. The social commentary stuff, it's powerful. That scene where the prostitute (?) is taking out the garbage, I found pretty disturbing.
I was just bored with all the characters within Sumida's sphere being there for the sake of being there. The Yakuza boss being there just to give Sumida the gun; the pickpocket guy just being there so that old fart could tag along to that Nazi guy's apartment and steal the money to pay the debt. I thought that was lazy writing. It feels so stale to me.
You see, the love-story has a beginning, middle and an end. there's depth to it. However, I think the dynamics suffered because of how the rest of the characters acted more tools than actually characters with a sense of purpose.
Like, the Yakuza boss tells Sumida he might be "his Angel, or his Satan" or whatever. But then, it doesn't go anywhere-- that line means nothing, although it seems emphasis is put on it so that the audience would think there's something profound happening between the 2 characters. Right?
Maybe if The Yakuza became profoundly fascinated by Sumida's nature; perhaps helped him in his quest for finding the "scum of society", or something. Maybe tried to mentor him, more than being a tool in Sumida's world.
HungFist wrote:I like the bus scene and the ending a lot, too.
Yeah, I dug the bus scene, as well. You know, you see stuff like that in Japanese movies, how the youth is doing all this crazy shit. Like 'Violent Cop', 'Memories of Matsuko', 'Confessions', and 'Battle Royale' was kind of a exaggerated version of that. And there's that film about the 'Electric City' shooting, I can't remember the name. It's crazy.
Well. Okay, perhaps I was a bit out of line, calling it lame. I think more in the context of what happened in the middle-section of the movie, the ending was a bit too much for me, personally. I don't know, I just don't think it really reaches its potential climax. But maybe I didn't like it because I was already bored.
Still, I'll probably watch it a few more times in the future. Maybe change my mind about some of the things I disliked.
