Epic Tale

During the Catholic sacrament of penance, priests absolve believers of their sins. In Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono’s action-dramedy Love Exposure, traditional confession gets an extreme makeover. The young, straitlaced Yu must confess his sins to his radical priest father. Quickly running out of bogus blunders, Yu starts committing transgressions just...

By Becky Bartkowski

September 1, 2011

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During the Catholic sacrament of penance, priests absolve believers of their sins. In Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono’s action-dramedy Love Exposure, traditional confession gets an extreme makeover. The young, straitlaced Yu must confess his sins to his radical priest father.

Quickly running out of bogus blunders, Yu starts committing transgressions just to have real wrongdoings for daily confession. His newfound sinful hobbies include up-skirt photography and cross-dressing.

Because it’s a Sono film, the plot is equal parts weird, scary, violent, and disturbing. Over the film’s 237 minutes, Yu falls in love with tough girl Yoko and is stalked by Aya, the member of a cult. If, while watching the award-winning Love Exposure, you become wary of its length, consider that the original version clocked in at a whopping six hours.

Fri., Aug. 26, 4 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 27, 6 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 28, 4 p.m.; Mon., Aug. 29, 7 p.m.; Tue., Aug. 30, 7 p.m.; Wed., Aug. 31, 7 p.m.; Thu., Sept. 1, 7 p.m., 2011

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