Truly a one-of-a-kind experience: this is a massive epic that weaves an impressively deep and invoking story, which includes the search for true love, coming-of-age themes, family values, kung-fu, cross-dressing, upskirt photography, perverts, religion, sin, fanaticism, and dangerous cults. Only in Japan...
You'd think that a four hour movie (yes, FOUR hours! To think the film was originally going to be six hours) would get tiresome, but surprisingly, Love Exposure never once drags. Somehow, it strikes a perfect pace, never too fast and never too slow. It'll have scenes that are so wild and crazy that they're hilarious. It also has scenes that are somber and poetic. Overall, the film takes its time to let the story and characters breathe, making the story and characters easily accessible and relate-able, and it does so without being boring or overdone.
You'd also think that this film could be cut down further, but strangely, the story actually benefits from its lengthy runtime, and uses up every minute of it. It goes through three, four, five or so different characters, all with their own crazy and insightful backstories, who inevitably collide and create interesting new plot complications. With so many issues at work with so many characters, the film creates many complex relationships, and uses them to weave a tight and dense plot. The manner in which this plot is presented makes it pretty easy to comprehend, allowing the viewer to fully understand one strand of the plot before diving into another. It's also very effective at getting the viewer to care about the characters, even if they are crazy or violent or freaks. With such an ambitious plot structure at work, the film manages to dig up some important themes regarding love, life, and religion, and possibly other things.
The film is shot and edited in an interesting manner; at times, the way it frames and puts images together reminds me a lot of an anime series. As such, it is a stylish film with purposeful composition. The camera work can be erratic at times, appearing like a documentary, but not to a sickening degree. Acting is pretty decent all around, and the writing is great. This production makes the best out of its utilitarian sets, props, and costumes. Music, while brusquely used, is strangely addictive and effective.
It's a long and crazy film, just as I expected, but it's also a film I couldn't stop watching, because its characters were so invoking, its themes so rich, and I found it so compelling overall. For the casual audience, unless you're a total prude, I recommend at least giving this film a try.
5/5 (Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Perfect | Film: Very Good)
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