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You won't be disappointed!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Writer/Director Sion Sono is my favourite filmmaker of this century. Though some of his early stuff, from the 90s, is a little shaky, everything he's made since Utsushimi (2000) has been phenomenal. He is bold and visionary, and his films are always memorable, confident and flawless in their direction.Sono's dialogue is not realistic, but hyperreal. Emotions are cranked up to eleven in a Sono film. But it does not feel so much like a melodrama, as it does, somehow, a complete externalization of the internal, like the characters are literally turned inside-out, and there's a lot of blood, and it's kind of horrific and kind of funny, but through all the gore and craziness their inner feelings, their souls, are put on full display and ours are reflected in them.There's a lot of screaming in Sono films. My favourite example is in Hazard (2005), where the main character, Shin, fed up with his dull life, runs screaming across his high school recreation ground. I could not scream in front of people like that, but I'd love to, and somehow this sequence, in amongst a montage of frenetically-conveyed backstory, expressed his character more clearly to me, connected me with the character more quickly, and deeply, than any more subtle approach could have.These characters wear their emotions on their sleeves; their feelings are conveyed intensely and immediately through the acting, dialogue, scenario. Take for example Himizu (2011): When the parents of both main characters, Yuichi and Keiko, feel they'd be better off without their children, they have no qualms about telling them so: Yuichi's father drunkenly tells him again and again about the insurance he would have collected if Yuichi'd drowned in the tsunami... Keiko's mom even builds her a snazzy little construct with a noose for her to hang herself, and decorates it for Christmas! And when Yuichi gets fed up, he sets out into the city, carrying a knife in a shopping bag to punish all the terrible people out there.Sono's films are the opposite of subtle: they are over-the-top, ridiculous. Consider his breakout hit Suicide Club (2001), in which the schoolgirls impulsively and joyfully commit suicide, after hearing it's become trendy to do so. Or, consider the absolutely stunning depths of insanity reached by the end of Strange Circus (2005) and Guilty of Romance (2011), films I can only categorize as darkly-comic psycho-sexual horror films. Yet, beneath the surface, there is an underlying, ecstatic truth to these films, these characters and situations.Before Sono was a filmmaker, he was a poet. It's not enough for Sono for a poem to be written, it must be yelled in public, repeated, made to sink in. Consider the repetition of poems in Guilty of Romance or Himizu. In another one of his films, it may be a bible verse. Poetry is intrinsic to Sono's films. His entire scripts, his films, are effectively a form of poetry he is sharing with us. All of his films are written himself, they are his art, and they are never compromised.I will not, in this review, explain what Love Exposure is about, except to say that it is the ultimate Sion Sono film. It's the summation of everything that came before. It's gory, it's insane, it's frenetic, it's wildly entertaining and extremely funny, it's completely ridiculous and intimately relatable. There's truth and poetry underlying every outrageous scene. I feel, simply, that it is the greatest film of my generation.

Just watched it for the second time! First of all, I have to say that I'm not really qualified to write a review for such a big, awesome movie. But since its like my all time favorite movie, I can't hold myself back.I disagree with people who say this is a love movie. If you watch it expecting something like that, you might find it extremely unrealistic and unsatisfying. Of course, its also a love movie, but its much much more than that! Hence 4 hours of duration.Its a movie which focuses on love, lust, faith etc in an extremely surreal and unique way. I think its a movie about "life" itself. Many things seem crazy in this movie, but I think the real life is no different, we're just used to it. This movie made me re-think life, my life, myself, and question many many things. I think its also a philosophical movie in a way! Lastly, I have to say that the movie is really top notch from almost every aspect, like filming, acting, character development etc. I think there is a lot of philosophy going on behind every little detail that I'm yet to understand this movie fully.Anyway, I recommend reading other reviews too but be cautious of spoilers!

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)

For me, "Love Exposure" is something of a terrific one-off experience. How to begin to describe with any degree of rationality the extraordinary effect of bewildering excitement it has had on a near octogenarian, is a task I find daunting. And yet for a work unlike any other in its helter-skelter delivery of an adolescent's quest for romantic fulfilment ( which I suppose is what it is all about), I feel I should at least take up the challenge. With such an engagingly innocent central character as schoolboy Yu, it seems completely natural to suspend disbelief and go along with everything he experiences, including his hilarious initiation into the skills of a panty photographer, his role as father-confessor at a perverts' convention and his attack with explosives and much blood letting on the HQ of a brainwashing religious cult. Buried beneath it all there could well be many serious messages (you get a big chunk of Corinthians!) or it could be just a pile of tosh. But in the end, who cares, such is the delirious pleasure that just under four hours of outrageous goings-on have delivered. I suppose I just love the theme of innocent youngsters taking on the wicked world. Gosh! I am still reeling, my critical faculties all but shattered!