The Forest of Love

This film is like a sort of Sion Sono starter pack for a generation that hasn't grown up watching his output from 2000-2015. Its characters, situations, premises, visual motifs, even locations are all taken from films (some, not all - since Sono has also made films outside his regular violent, emotive, hyperactive, bat-crazy signature fares) from this era: Noriko's Dinner Table, Strange Circus, Love Exposure, Cold Fish, Guilty of Romance and Why Dont You Play in Hell to be precise. These six films, along with minor references to his other films, form of the universe of "The Forest of Love". Its characters fluidly pass from one film to the other. And together they establish the ethos that is a standard Sono film. In the hands of any other director this idea would appear too self-indulgent to execute. But Sono introduces a self-conscious metaphysical angle that tries to posit all the violence and insanity and torture as services to cinema, or his kind of cinema. "Jinsei wa Eiga!"- its characters proclaim not-so-subtly.

With a premise that is interesting enough to get his fans and newer audience hooked right from the start (no matter what follows afterwards), this film has a lot of memorable moments to offer. But sadly, for a fan, there's nothing essentially new. We have all seen this before, done better. The six films I mentioned - each of them are brilliant in their own ways because they exhaust their respective ideas both philosophically and in craft. In comparison, this appears little more than a list of checked boxes, like an already-established band playing their greatest hits on an overseas stage, rather than a new album.

6.5/10

Sono Sion is a prolific filmmaker. Ergo they can't all be hits. This one is deck definitely a miss. The lack of story is not conducive to the film's 2 hours and 40 minute runtime. The cinematography is not on par with his other films (ie: Cold Fish). The ending is also very disappointing. If you haven't seen any of his films, I recommend starting with Suicide Circle. Cold Fish and Why Don't You Play in Hell? are also good in different ways.

"The Forest of Love" has a similar atmosphere to the Australian serial killer flick, "Snowtown". Both movies are about charismatic, endlessly manipulative psychopaths who insinuate themselves into the lives of people that have already been marked by tragedy. Both movies have that same feeling where you feel everything moving toward unspeakable tragedy, pain and suffering, and you're not sure if you want to keep watching.

"Forest" was made by Sion Sono, however, and he may be the most interesting, challenging, shocking filmmaker working today, so it's a different experience in some other ways, such as its non-linear structure, surplus of strange dialogue and unpredictable behaviour from the characters, and length.

It's not unlike "Midsommar" in these ways. The group surrounding the killer (who is lamentably based on a real person) is, after all, a cult. And the movie takes you prisoner with them, it seems. With its length and commitment to subject matter, like the Ari Aster film, "Forest" becomes more like an experience you are sharing with the characters, the usual gap between movie and audience no longer so apparent.

This is not just like watching a trainwreck happen. You're on the train with them.

It's strong stuff, but all fans of cinema that makes you feel something, whether or not it's a pleasant thing, need to check it out.

Sion Sono is a special director. He does things his way and his movies are quite weird mostly to say the least. So the first review (if you can call three sentences a review) I read here did not surprise me. And I don't even mean the low score (1/10), but the argument that was made that there are too many characters and you could not concentrate on one individual (hero?).

Maybe that can work as a warning. Either that other "review" or me mentioning it. Whatever the case, if you go in this, be prepared to see a meta take on the very infamous forest (this is not the first movie about it and surely won't be the last). There are many things going on and some may feel supernatural (this is what the forest is famously know for after all) ... but what is the mystery and what will it all lead to?

...I decided to write something regarding the 1 and 2 stars that others put. For what I read they do not aware of Sono s films and style. They do not understand Japanese pop culture too. How they can go to a film so blinded and then let a comment here as they kno w something about that type of cinema? I prefer to not comment about the plot but as mentioned is inspired in a serial killer from the late 90s. -The films is long; longer than most Japanese ones but maintain the expectations. Actors are pretty good in their rolls. Color palette and tense music are spot on.