Love Exposure
Wooder

Review by Wooder

Love Exposure 2008

★★★★★

Watched 12 Aug 2016

Here's some music to set the mood.

It's been nearly four years since I really plunged into the depths of cinema, three and a half since I joined Letterboxd. This is my 1000th diary entry. Now what compelled me to watch Love Exposure as that milestone? Simply because without Letterboxd and its champions of the less-talked-about I never would have watched something even close to Love Exposure...ever!

I tend to hold in high regard films of extended runtimes. In my top 10 alone I have placed there three films over three hours. The tapestry-like magic that the auteur of a four or more hour film must weave blows my mind and with few exceptions engrosses me. Love Exposure is a film of many simple arcs that intersect and bind, fleshing out complete characters whether they are complete or not. Love Exposure is also a film of many different genres and stylistic disciplines. In terms of genre it goes from religious quest, to off-kilter comedy, to busted romance, to awkward rom-com, to heist drama, and back to romance. In terms of homage, reference, and inspiration from and to other media there are many that fly right over my head, but it does cover everything from MTV, Japanese porn, Shaw Brothers, Kubrick, and Wong Kar-Wai.

How does this jumble of lines and polygons come together? It doesn't and that's the beauty of it. No other film I've seen is as evocative of mid/late adolescents. No other film I've seen is as ludicrously obscene and yet funny and deep. Love Exposure is about nothing other than its characters, yet it is also very much about the themes of life, made both real and hyperreal so as to be intellectually stimulating and entertaining interchangeably.

There is no other film like Love Exposure, there is no other website like Letterboxd, and its pretty cool they both exist.

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