The Face of Another

The Face of Another (1966) is third collaboration between the director Hiroshi Teshigahara, composer Toru Takemitsu and writer Kobo Abe. The trio's achievements could be seen as pretentious and hilariously gritty, but somehow they always manage to completely enthrall me. It seems almost if their work became more subtle the more they worked together. The Pitfall's experimentality was strongly present throughout the film and even Woman in the Dunes was a bit, but that roughness was fitting for the film. The Face of Another is a significantly more restrained effort because even the unconventional bits flow smoothly.

The main character of the film (played superbly by Tatsuya Nakadai) explores the ambiguous nature of identity after his face is accidentally deformed and then replaced by a new one. Despite its heavy themes the film advances in a clearly comprehensible way that might be a bit ambiguous once in a while, but it never goes to the extremes of the trio's earlier films that are much more obscure (but not necessarily bad that way). The writing is intellectually very stimulating and provokes strong emotional reactions as it follows the questionable ethics of the main character.

Whereas Woman in the Dunes was formally claustrophobic, The Face of the Another is schizophrenic. After the menacing and experimental opening the film's form diverts a little from what is expected from the trio. The intense close-ups are fewer and Takemitsu's wonderful musical score is more subtle than before. The lighting and cinematography are just about as refined and powerful as they can be.

What could have been a misadventure in obscurity and pretension turns out to be yet another masterpiece from the famous Japanese New Wave trio.

Score: 10 out of 10

A Country Doctor

Koji Yamamura's experimental animated short film A Country Doctor (2007) is an adaptation of Franz Kafka's short story of the same name. Adapting Kafka is often problematic because it is nigh impossible to portray the peculiarities of Kafka's prose onscreen. Yamamura succeeds quite well by using weird techniques like distorting the characters throughout the film and the art design is sketchy and creepy. The absurd and delusional story is certainly interesting, but in the end the short film is not superb. It's "only" very good.

Score: 8 out of 10

PS: It's uploaded on YouTube in three parts.

Love Exposure

I reviewed Sion Sono's Love Exposure (2009) last December after I had seen it for the first time. I finally decided to rewatch the epic 4-hour film now that I own it on DVD. The film doesn't lose even a shred of its tremendous power on a rewatch. The experience of watching the film for the first time was so involving that I mostly forgot to approach it more analytically. During this rewatch I received the chance to fix that and the film still holds up as one of the greatest films I've ever seen.

Essentially Love Exposure is a love story. Try to imagine the most absurd and convoluted love story ever made and make it one that is intensive and interesting for 4 hours - then you are close to understanding what Love Exposure is like. Add outrageously funny jokes, an exploration of religious problems, crossdressing as a serious story device and a lot of other things. Love Exposure explores so many different directions it's a miracle that it is even coherent.

Even though (obsessive/delusive) love is more like a frame story in Love Exposure it is also an important, central subject/theme in the film. As the title suggests the film is about "being exposed to love", but the film adds its own twist to it by exposing love to a few of the most mentally screwed characters of the decade. The conflicts and problems of organized religion are approached via moral corruption and amorality that is guaranteed to disturb anyone. It really tells something about the film's perversive screenplay that panties and hard-ons are used as significant motifs for self-discovery.

Not only does the writing switch constantly between different moods (tangible drama/tragedy & laugh-out-loud comedy), the form is very flexible as well. Visually Sono employs interesting techniques on different occassions: Tarantino-esque editing and camerawork, long take aesthetic, modern shakycam (surprisingly well done in the right context) and even splitscreens. He knows exactly when to pause the chaotic madness and lets the audience catch their breath - and even then the plot marches forward at an insane pace. The soundtrack also reflects the various moods by alternating between Yura Yura Teikoku's charming psychedelic rock and classical music.

Due to its enormous length the film relies a lot on its young cast. Nishijima, Mitsushima and Ando perform superbly - and even though Nishijima does most of the heavy lifting, the ladies steal every scene they are in. Weirdly enough that never distracts the audience because Sono manages to make it feel fitting/justified.

Love Exposure is Sono's magnum opus in all possible ways: it delves into heavy themes while retaining his interest for gore. It's one hell of a tour de force for everyone involved in the production because it is utterly complex yet surprisingly simple and understandable at the same time. It's not only a technical exercise in complexity and absurdity, it's also emotionally involving to the point that it becomes a truly enjoyable catharsis for the viewer.

Score: 10 out of 10

Citizen Kane

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Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941) is probably the single most revered film in existence. It is often said it is the film that saved, defined and revived the medium and the industry. It has been raised on a ridiculously high pedestral and if anyone even dares to second guess the film for a moment he (or she) will be attacked at or at least completely ignored. It's the Holy Bible of film lovers.

What is this great film about, then? The rise and fall of Charlie Foster Kane. This sort of story has become increasingly popular after Citizen Kane, but none of them have really mastered the idea as well. The life of the complex main character is thoroughly explored, but the narrative is probably a bit too dense for its sake. The narrative exposition feels a bit forced at times and it managed to make me feel a bit alienated. The film's emotional impact was reduced.

Pretty much everything has been written about the film's impeccable from. Its camerawork is probably as refined as it can get. The editing is ambitious and works well throughout the film's running time. The musical score is a tad generic, but it was hardly a nuisance.

In the end, Citizen Kane is a film I can admire, but I will probably never love.

Score: 9 out of 10

And the film lovers gasped in unison once they saw the "low" score.

Love Exposure

At first, I'm going to warn you about this review: it's not probably going to be coherent because it's more like a recollection of my viewing experience than a good review. I apologise in advance for the possible inconvenience caused by the review.

Sion Sono's Love Exposure (2008) is a long film. Its length is around 4 hours. Describing the film is nigh-impossible because it touches on so many things and one could say it has "too much of everything". Yet, it works flawlessly. Love. Religion. Family. School. Society. Delusion. Obsession. Perversion. Crossdressing. Sexuality.

During the first 10 minutes, the film provides us with 3 major characters (not the only major characters though) in a dense introduction. After that, all hell breaks loose already. Try to imagine the most wonderful and funniest farce you've ever seen. For me, that was Visitor Q's last 15 minutes. Love Exposure is even funnier than that - for the first hour and a half. It is so tongue-in-cheek about everything. The plot becomes quite complicated - although completely comprehensible all the time - and I have to admit I have never ever laughed as much as I did during the farcical period.

After laughing very, very hard I did not expect what was coming. I was trolled really hard as the film became serious yet it still retained its cartoonish tone at the same time. For a moment, I was utterly lost and felt disappointed, but then I realised how Sono had trolled me completely. Before I got used to the change of tone, I was completely mindfucked by the film. The flick was so intense that it grabbed me from my balls and just kept throwing me around for ages. That was the point when I realised how the film had me think and attacked my world view in a way only Neon Genesis Evangelion had done to me.

After the initial reaction to the mindfuck, things became a bit smoother for a while - until the film made me weep. The utter sadness was only interrupted by one laugh-out-loud moment, but the ending really tied it all together somehow. While the film was very depressive most of the time - or at least seemed so under its playful mood - the ending was extremely uplifting. The cathartic impact is undeniable for the film is life-affirming beyond comprehension.

While it is possible to doubt its content by looking at its narrative which seems unnecessarily complex, it would be simply dumb to criticize the film for that. It never failed to impress me despite its possible weaknesses and the power of its complicated structure is harrowing. Sono's editing is quite frantic most of the time, but it is never distracting. It builds up more and more tension as the film goes on - and releases in a few glorious moments. And when it does calm down for a moment, it is even more intensive. In those moments Sono leaves the film on the shoulders of the actors - and it is even more powerful that way.

Speaking of acting, the performances are pitch-perfect in the film. How is it possible to have 3 perfect tour de force performances in one film? Especially Hikari Mitsushima's performance as Yoko is haunting and magnificent.

The soundtrack for the film is baffling. It ranges from classical Western music to J-Pop. Sono's use of Ravel's Bolero is heart-rending and unforgettable.

How is it even possible to craft such a solid and perfect entirety out of such bizarre and diverse elements? Love Exposure has proved me cinema can go further than I believe. Now I'm afraid I might not like it as much when I rewatch it, but I'll leave that for later.

Score: 10 out of 10