Guilty of Romance

This is just TYPICAL SONO. Over 2 hrs, that's A MUST with him lol (the director, Sion Sono), and not a problem, just something that either seems to happen because sooo much is going on, or he intentionally makes it that long to be seen as unique in style and vision. Well whatever then.

Either way this is my favourite film by him. First is this, then Cold Fish, then Suicide Club 1, then Play in Hell, then Love Exposure, then Suicide Club 2, then Strange effing Circus, eugh lol (strange indeed and just...ugh. It was ugly looking, lacking and disconcerting. Not sure about the point there AT ALL but I'm sure anyone with a way of words can explain anything).

Well anyway, this film made me cry. Not because I sought out a certain kind of film during a time of mental boredom and emotional fatigue after chronically intermittent downward spirals. And it just drains my head and heart afterward. I end up feeling dead inside and so I need stimulation, fast. I was tired of mundane stuff. I've no idea how I came to find Sono's work but at the time it hit the spot that wasn't getting hit, ever. "Guilty of Romance" might be a top favourite film on my expanding list.

Thankfully it wasn't so disturbing by the time I got to it. Maybe if I were more prudent or had a virgin mind and eyes I would be more terrified like I'm probably meant to be after watching what probably is something so disturbing. But I don't see it that way; it's comforting in its depravity. Because it's all too real.

What's sad is the character played by Sono's real life wife. She's lonely, untouched, and insecurely obsequious/subservient. She does everything meticulously for her husband. Not herself and no one else. Sono normally introduces every character for like an hour separate lol with "chapters" but here you still have no effing clue how the wife ended up here, from what I recall after a couple rewatches. Like who her family are, where they are, where she's from. It seems to be an unspoken (or culturally context) arranged marriage/"omiai" in Japan. Because I don't see the love that brought them together!

She IS guilty of romance. She wanted it badly and so badly that she later was so confused enough to be talked OUT of wanting it. It was too much of a burden to seek so she gave up on it, almost maniacally so. I still am not sure about the "whodunnit" in this film, like the who-killed-who factor. It would've been SO great with JUST the wife's story, being alone, getting naively tangled into the sex industry, infidelity; her loss of status, loss of self, loss of love and the mind, (all the things she desperately sought out) after meeting the hooker who somehow inspired her (this hooker is someone who crawled out of the dark side of feminism if not misandry altogether, or just utter insanity lol. I absolutely HATED that woman and her character, and the actress. All of it just put me off. Not the sex scenes, not the anger, just...her. She was...well...unattractive lol But whatever.)

I get her story, afterall it took an hour to clear it up. She basically has a very creepy traditional mother, and a double life herself as a prestigious lecturer and hooker. This probably shows her self conflict of fulfilling expectations and then saying to hell with them. It's a strange conflict; I'm sure most people might at least have sex or do kinky things for pleasure out of the job, but her strolling around at night assertively telling men to have sex with her when she's a professor is albeit weird to say the least lol And why this attracts the wife to this lifestyle, no clue, but that also indicates how lost and alone she is.

The plot twist was good, didn't see it coming, betrayals everywhere. Madness in all these fools and creeps to be honest. And it drove the wife to have to accept the path she followed behind the hooker. What's so heartbreaking for me is that in the end, she had to do it alone, undeservedly. She was gleeful in what I think is denial and just plain gullibility that this secret life would eventually find her satisfaction, and would spark passion and romance in if not her marriage then her life. That's how she is guilty. Sono is probably saying she was gullible to think that road she chose would lead anywhere like that, but luckily it seems this kind of downfall is not normal, that a certain type of person would descend this way. A person desperately seeking the "Castle," obviously a metaphor in this film for stability and happiness. Apparently based on some Russian or German or something story, which Sono likes to do as well.

There's also something in here, and I'm not sure if it's an original piece of Sono's promoting his own poetry here, but it was something thematic in the film about not crying. And this was recited by the hooker. She damn near preached it. Not to cry, but to do. This also ties in with Buddhism which Sono might be. That sorrow is selfish. And this could've driven the wife to not wallow in dolor and self pity, but to do. Unfortunately what she did was stupidly wrong.

Does anyone care about the color, the soundtrack, scenery, wardrobe? Stuff like that, those elements that do help make the film? I'm sure there's a science to all of this, but the film wasn't ugly. Sono intentionally uses color here, all throughout the film. Not sure if it's symbolic; I'm not trying to impress anyone with this ready-at-hand-reach wheel of colors and their meanings. But aesthetically, the color was nice lol The other stuff: eh.

Very unusual and intriguing.

Starts off incredibly well - edgy, very interesting, and doesn't give much away. The transformation of the author's wife is captivating, and has many lessons in liberty, self-will, individualism and their consequences.

However, the second act is confusing, drags on a bit and the plot is not entirely water-tight. Some things just seem added in for shock or weirdness value.

The conclusion is good and closes the loop well, though leaving room for a continuing moral.

Solid performances all round.

You know Sono. You know that he doesn't want films to be easy. You know he doesn't care about your feelings. You know that he wants to tell you much more than "blood and tits", even if some people can't pass that layer.

This is a difficult one, but again, it delivers, makes you think about everything he wanted to say. Great performance and visuals.

The awesomely inappropriately titled Guilty of Romance is Sono Sion's recent take on another dysfunctional family dynamic. It was billed as the final installment of a trilogy of movies; the first two being Love Exposure and Cold Fish. However, I'm not sure why these films are considered to be linked together in any way, and Sono has been making movies like this for a quite a while. Aside from the aforementioned films, Noriko's Dinner Table, Suicide Club, Strange Circus, and several others all fit a similar mold.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

If you're not familiar with Sono's work, you should be. He specializes in telling stories involving family and personal relationships from a peculiarly dark perspective. Often sensationalistic, and packed full of cult like themes, sex, violence, and depravity, his films frequently leave an indelible impression on the viewer. It takes more than that to get my attention though, and, it's pretty clear this is a very talented director and writer who has delivered a number of spectacularly effective films over the years. Cold Fish is a wonderfully devious and subversive movie, and I can think of very few films that can be compared to the epic (and I do mean epic) Love Exposure.

Needless to say, Sono's films aren't for everyone, and many people will find them disturbing or distasteful. Oh, and you'll definitely want to keep the kids as far away from these movies as possible. One almost has to wonder if there is something wrong with this director's mind, or, if there was some traumatic past experience that forever shaped his view of the world. It's hard to imagine that any rational person could, or would want to, tell so many bizarre stories about the darker side of a person's soul. Regardless of wherever he draws his inspiration, this dude is clearly walking a fine line that often borders on being equal parts brilliant and insane. What results on screen is often fascinating to watch though, and, that's just fine by me.

Guilty of Romance follows Sono's trademark style of storytelling. Everybody is basically a weirdo or deviant, or soon will be. Megumi Kagurazaka (who played the role of the supporting wife in Cold Fish) takes the lead here. She plays the dutiful (albeit sexually repressed) wife of a famous romance novelist. Bored with her everyday housewife routine, she searches for an outlet which soon leads her down a path from light modeling to porn star to sex obsessed prostitute. Her transformation from reserved woman to sexually insatiable beast is impressive to say the least. It took some guts for this actress to just take on this role, let alone embrace it the way she did; she gets naked (a lot), and she has sex (a lot), throughout this film. In addition to her blistering physical performance, Ms. Kagurazaka does an equally fine job of portraying the changing/growing thoughts & feelings of her character as one would be inclined to expect within the context of the role she was given. She single handily drives this film to be better than it should be, and, she is by far the best part of this whole endeavor.

There's 4 other primary characters in this film. There's the husband (who may or may not be hiding his own secret life), the female professor (who has long since undergone her own secret sexual transformation, and whom now acts as somewhat of a mentor to Megumi's character), the mother of the professor (who doesn't take too kindly to tolerating her daughter'-in-law's debauchery), and the playboy/pimp dude who helps facilitate much of the sexual goings on.

As the story progresses, all primary characters discover more about each other and themselves, while the plot unfolds towards the big finale. It's all pretty standard stuff (for a Sono film), but, there was very little that stood out or surprised me here. In fact, I was a bit disappointed overall. Whereas many of Sono's previous films have an oddly free flowing appeal to them, Guilty of Romance seems to be quite a bit more forced and contrived, if not downright pretentious, and it's all very linear in nature. As with the case with many of his films, there's usually a character or two, or some event, that sends the protagonist on their journey of discovery, and, that's no different here. The pimp, professor, and mother, all play their part in filling this role in this instance, but I think there was far too much importance placed on the significance of each of these characters. These characters also serve to be part of a secondary story that revolves around a murder mystery. This whole entire secondary story was unnecessary in my opinion, and this only served to detract from the primary focus of the film.

This film would have probably been better served to just concentrate on the role of the lead character, and, to just let the star of the film have at it! It would have been far more interesting to just observe her performance, and what the effects and outcome of her actions would ultimately have on her life and her marriage. The lead role didn't really require the heavy handed impetus of the other characters in the story. Handling them as more of fleeting acquaintances (similar to how the modeling scout or porno actor were implemented) would have likely worked much better overall.

Overall, I did enjoy this movie enough for the most part to recommend, and, as usual for a Sono film, it is quite memorable. But, I've come to expect more from this director over the years; I guess that's the price one must continually pay for repeated success. Worth it alone, though, just for Megumi Kagurazaka's incredible performance.

6-7 out of 10 stars should do it. I'll give it a 7.

P.S. This film borders on being a stylized soft core porn film with a story to tell. So, Viewer Beware!

After really enjoying Cold Fish at this years Melbourne International Film Festival, I went ahead and got a ticket to a screening of Guilty of Romance.

The only thing that really held my interest (and stopped me from walking out of the cinema) was the gorgeous Megumi Kagurazaka. Outside of this, I found GOR to be underwritten and pretentious.

Didn't care about any of the characters and the stories of three Japanese women quickly became laboured. Overly long scenes, characters shouting at each other, ridiculous literary quotes, a half baked attempt to add a crime caper twist, some kind of messages about modern feminism in Japan? Everything becomes muddled and there is simply no emotion here. Granted I am an Anglo Aussie so I can only assume I am missing much by not being Japanese and understanding their culture.

As a film, Cold Fish was in another league compared to this sorry, overblown mess.