Antiporno

I exist. I exist here. I know I exist. I exist, but not today. Today comes constantly. It'll come until I die. But I don't exist today. We don't exist in the todays we've lost. It appears as if we do, but we don't.

You wake up from a nightmare where your life is just a character evolving on stage, for the amusement of others. But you wake up. To reality. Or ... are you still on stage? If yes... where is the exit? Where?

An item that appears repeatedly throughout the movie gets a very strong meaning at the end of it. A lizard who grew too big to ever get out of the bottle he's in! Where's the exit? Where?

Antiporno is not a porn movie. It contains some nudity scenes, vulgar language and many shocking scenes. And color. A lot of color sometimes. Liquid even. But besides, it's hard to say what it is. Perhaps for someone more familiar with the work of Japanese director Sion Sono, things are clearer. It is a symbolic film, requiring an effort to understand it. And I believe that a profound knowledge of Japanese society is indispensable.

This movie is such a complicated critique on not only Japan's Roman porno industry but on the society and culture that gave rise to it and where that culture stands now in the 21st century. It is as complicated as all good art and the twists and turns will confuse and provoke even viewers who are familiar with the history of the genre and the culture. It has a lot to say but what you understand from it is quite open to interpretation... or is it? Full of symbols and symbolism, with meaning that is changed as quickly as it is attached. In the end it is a piece of art... or the most existential porno ever made?

Anti-Porno is another mind-bender by prolific Japanese cult cinema director Sion Sono. The North American premiere had a sold out seating of intrigued moviegoers. Some liked it including myself and my Japanese-Canadian friend who speaks fluent Japanese and other utterly disliked this bizarre piece of cinema. Understandably, this is not for everybody and is definitely in the sexually charged vein of Strange Circus (2005) and Guilty Romance (2011) realm rather than palatable post-apocalyptic dramas like Himizu (2011) or Land of Hope (2012).

Sono is an artist and has one the most disparate notions of time for his movies with his two best, Cold Fish (2010) and Noriko's Dinner Table (2005), clocking around 150-160 mins, but Love Exposure (2008) rambling on at 240 mins, while Tag (2015) ticked by in 85 mins. The Whispering Star (2015) is only 100 mins but feels like years with sparse dialogue and landscapes, long slow takes and black & white interplanetary postal robot mood. Anti- Porno is his shortest here at 78 mins but packs a lot of tricks in a tight vision of lust and lost.

The movie starts with cute clichés and colourful art direction concerning sex and seduction in an S&M and bisexual tension kind of way. Add a toilet, a toy, other girls as audience / participants, a taunt and a twist!

Ami Tomite who also started in Sono's Tag (2015) and The Virgin Psychics (2015) plays the lead and seductress self-proclaimed whore. She is a superstar and has her assistant prepare her packed daily schedule, including a photo-shoot, but verbal abuse, nudity, submission, sex, slicing of wrists and depravity ensue. Take a photo-shoot and video of all this…

Then comes the role reversal and question of identity. Who is shooting who and playing who? Who is directing? Who is writing? Who is shooting a sex scene in the woods or in a room? Who is a whore and a virgin? How to emancipate ourselves? What is sex and what does it say about society and individuals?

This film raises many questions, is a welcome criticism of sex as a taboo and explores Japanese sexual repression and oppression specifically, but touches on worldly and beautiful themes with a mature, daring tone. The conversation of teenage girls and their parents at dinner table is priceless and unheard of. A necessary discussion of equals that makes you think while shocking your preconceived ideas about sex and parenting, even if you are a liberal!

Thank you Sono for again pushing the boundaries.

Lots of beauty and thoughts in this seemingly absurd and self- absorbed subtle sexual and mental exploration.

Japan 2016| 78 min | Festival du Nouveau Cinema | Japanese (English subtitles)

I don't think it is a masterpiece.

Yes, I can understand the theme even if I'm not familiar with Japanese cinematography. There is a lot of symbolism and it acts as an abstract social commentary and I'm sure it resonates a lot better with the repressed Japanese society than it does with me.

However, this doesn't mean it is a good movie. A similar movie that breaks the fourth wall is Dogville. But that movie makes sense. The plot is interesting. There is coherence to it. It hits you hard, emotionally. The final scene feels right even if it is so wrong. It is a masterpiece compared to this.

This movie is a set of almost random scenes that are connected by an overall theme of feminine repression and sexuality and chaos. It's the movie that critics will look at and say "wow, this is so freakin' deep" when as an experiment in cinematography, is fine, but as a movie, fails dramatically.

Sure, you can think I'm a moron and that I don't understand conceptual cinematography and that this movie is not for a caveman like me. But I've seen similar movies and theatre and I don't mind the idea. The idea and concept are goods. The execution itself is flawed. I should have feel shocked or disgusted or thoughtful or anxious at the end and I'm not. I felt bored. I was asking myself "c'mon, when does this end?". The first part was interesting, especially breaking the fourth wall, but overall, I found it a waste of time.

First off, this is one crazy film. Not altogether surprising as the Japanese films we get to see in the UK have a tendency to be pretty crazy and this being a film by Sion Sono, we should not be surprised if it is double crazy. Ami Tomite is beautiful and scary, skimpily dressed and nude but always shouting. Unless she is on the receiving end that is because things do change around a bit here. Lest we get too comfortable with her ordering others to strip and perform as a whore or a dog, it is being done to her. For fun or for the cameras, because there is also a film crew within the film. They also seem pretty crazy and in case we should get the impression that this is lots of sex and violence just for the sake of it, there is a devastating message hear that basically concludes that Japanese men will never allow Japanese women to be anything other than a dog or a whore. Nice!