Guilty of Romance

The disorders of feminine desire in the Doll's House of Japanese culture, via Buñuel, Mahler (and so the obscure longing of Visconti's Death in Venice, and so Mann's), Kafka, Ibsen and Ryūichi Tamura, portraying the endless circuit of desire and drive that we chase or flee but cannot either reach or escape: don't tell me Sion Sono isn't a great filmmaker. I love his repetitions and insistences, his hysteria and his calm. ONLY see the Japanese cut, not the "international" version.

Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll House" if directed by a cocaine-addled Japanese pornographer.

Accepting the emotional detachment and economic necessity of sex work results in liberation, yet the stigma around sex work makes it an inherently emotional job. Mostly though I just be thinking about how there's a Japanese Adam Driver in this.

(144 min cut): The Japanese cut deepens the connection between Izumi and the female cop, but the detective story is the least interesting aspect of Sion's narrative, so it's a mixed bag. The film belongs to Kagurazaka, who gives a brave, emotionally vulnerable performance as the bored housewife turned 'whore', and her journey from liberation to degradation is almost unbearably visible on her fragile countenance. When she is the focus, G.O.R becomes an intense exploration of destructive desire.

Modern Japanese dark Belle de Jour.

About sexuality as an enigma motivating the painstaking movement of desire that gives meaning to both language and body. A brilliant layer-by-layer presentation of this theme, holding on to the height of our shame of desire till the very end, without trying to dissolve the enigma in any sense.

*International version* My first Sono film. ‘And the Word was made flesh'. But to describe this film in that way is to simplify what Sono is doing here as he draws not only on Biblical inspirations as well as Kafka and Ibsen, but also Wittgenstein's ‘Philosophical Investigations'. Mitsuko and Izumi indulge in sexual 'depravity' in order to rewrite the rules of the language-games that trap then in their tortuous lives. Often too chaotic and thus unfocussed, but still brilliant in parts

Pure exploitation, zero depth.

The denouement doesn't really work, and the conclusion to the "mystery" is a bit of a damp squib, but I dug pretty much everything else. It's beautifully paced, compelling and tense, and the two female leads commit to an absurd degree. I liked it a lot. (Also Sion Sono is a lucky man, holy shit.)

One of the most strong woman characters I've ever seen. Our protagonist is a loyal housewife. After she realizes her beauty and sexuality she starts feeling freedom. I would like to make an analysis of the movie from the perspective of Male Gaze theory by Laura Mulvey next time.

jesus fucking christ sion sono

A lurid murder mystery centered around a woman's exploration of the perils and passion of prostitution. Leans heavily on the freedom of women to control and exploit their own bodies and sexuality, but paints such a depraved picture of sexual exploration that it's hard to call it sex-positive. I'd certainly call it more radically feminist than most films of its ilk. Regardless, with Sion Sono, things are never remotely boring.

ainda não vi um filme ruim do Sion Sono

Culpada por Romance estreava há 10 anos no Festival de Cannes. Embora goste imensamente de seu cinema, nunca acho que os filmes de Sion Sono cheguem a obras-primas como é de opinião de muita gente, acho um trabalho muito sólido que condensa e permite várias leituras sofisticadas, mas sempre me desperta um sentimento de falta e com esse aqui não é diferente. BlurayRip no MakingOff.

I'm not sure I've got my head entirely around this after one viewing, but I do know it made me feel really empty. Himizu was strangely uplifting and humanistic for such a dark film, this one just seems misanthropic. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with what it has to say about women, either, but I'm not even sure what I think it says about women. I just feel kinda shitty.

I like most of Sion Sono's other movies, but found this unwatchable. Usually his movies are very flawed but also very interesting. Not the case here - the main character gives a very good performance, but even she can't save this movie from being dull.