So, this was my first introduction to Sono. (For reference, I didn't watch the shorter film--I went straight for this deep cut.) I was intrigued by the trailer, but I don't feel like the trailer accurately reflects the ride The Forest of Love will take you on. Split into seven episodes and released as a limited series, I was expecting something conventional. Coherent.
Instead, I'm taken on a journey revolving around a variety of different characters. The series kicks off with a couple in a car, while a woman ends up third-wheeling them in the back seat. They get out only to find a dead body in the forest. This sets the creepy tone for the film, but then we cut over to the lesbian rendition of Romeo and Juliet at an all-girls school. The three main characters of focus are Romeo (Eiko), Juliet (Mitsuko) and Taeko, the director. Romeo and Taeko are already in a relationship, but Mitsuko has a crush on Romeo.
The first episode continues to establish the situation: Romeo dies in a tragic car crash and both Taeko and Mitsuko end up processing their grief differently. Mitsuko becomes a "hikikomori" (i.e. a shut-in that doesn't interact with society) and Taeko proudly proclaims herself a "sl*t". They both see hallucinations of Romeo throughout the series, and this shows how much gravity their high school memories hold for both of them. Once this has been established, we get introduced to Shin, a guy who has come to enjoy what Tokyo has to offer. He ends up joining an amateur film team with the goal of creating a film that can win them the grand prize in a competition. Taeko gets involved with said film team, and she tries to convince Mitsuko to take part in the film too. Later on, we get our first introduction to the creepily charismatic, off-the-rails Joe Murata.
Now, at first, I was confused. The acting felt over the top, the plot seemed all over the place and I didn't really get who I was meant to be rooting for. Taeko's character seemed to revolve around her promiscuity and nothing more, Shin didn't interest me in the slightest and the other film guys were... okay, I suppose?
Even so, I was pulled in by the characters of Joe Murata--a con man who behaves oddly and is a textbook manipulator case--and Mitsuko, a girl raised in a wealthy family with a pushover mother and a overly strict dad who gives her a curfew of 9pm (even at the age of 25!)
So, when Mitsuko and Murata--the two most interesting characters for me so far--cross paths, I couldn't help but keep watching past the first episode to see what would become of this union.
As the episodes went on, I slowly began to discard the idea of looking at things "conventionally". That's not what this film aims to do. Though it all initially seems disconnected and random (Murata will often burst into song unprompted and act in absurd ways, e.g. slapping a bank manager for refusing to loan him money before proceeding to wreck the entire building) it makes for an incredibly interesting viewing experience. The actors perform their roles perfectly. Murata's actor has the energy required for such a role, the ability to go from calm and composed to off-the-rails insane, dangerous and dark, and his performance alone makes this a must-watch in my eyes.
Taeko's character also begins to gain more and more value for me as the episodes go by. Her promiscuity comes out of a desire to fill the void left within her at the loss of Romeo, but no matter how many men she sleeps with, it's never enough. Her story becoming intertwined with that of Murata only further emphasises the sadness of her life--rather than encountering someone who could help her to process her grief in a more healthy manner (or point her in the direction of therapy--seriously, all these characters need a long, healthy dose of therapy)--she comes across a master manipulator who controls her under the guise of "love". From the looks of it, there's no positive influences of any sort left in her life. And yet, when the journey of film-making proves perilous, highlighted by Mitsuko going too far and murdering Jay on camera, she is the only voice of reason amongst the group that realises that this has gone too far and she manages to escape Murata's grasp, unlike Jay. The last we see of her is her pulling herself out from the lake she threw herself into to escape Shin--the true serial killer. (We're initially led to believe Murata's the serial killer, so this was an interesting plot twist for me.)
Taeko is a victim of her circumstances, and her actress does a perfect job at showing this. She has tearful, emotional moments on screen that haunt me even now, and in her hallucinations where she sees Romeo, I can feel the longing of her heart, yearning for a love that only exists in her mind now. We realise that even though she knows how terrible of a person Murata is, manipulating person after person after person without pause and exploiting them for their money, she clings onto him because she doesn't know any better. And because she recognises this, she even attempts to protect Mitsuko at first (if I remember correctly, the specific line was "I'll keep Murata at bay with my body". She didn't want Mitsuko to fall too deep for Murata and end up giving herself to him fully because she herself had made the same mistake and knew it wouldn't end well for Mitsuko. Though her character initially appears to be shallow, she turns out to be a brilliant presence on my screen that served a purpose from beginning to end.
Mitsuko's character was also quite haunting for me. We see that her mental state is already quite precarious in the first episode alone, and while it picks up upon her meeting Murata, Taeko's initial concerns prove to be right--Murata eventually ends up acting in incredibly abusive ways towards her (burning her with his cigarette, slapping her, electrocuting her). He does this to the extent that she ends up losing her baby and ends up getting admitted to hospital. By the time we reach the penultimate episode, it's clear that Mitsuko is pretty far gone. And we also get to see how her family dynamics have played into this. Her younger sister, Ami, is decidedly more promiscuous and free and has more freedom from her parents. Mitsuko, on the other hand, is not allowed to do much at all without her parents' say-so. As a result, a gulf has grown between the two siblings to the extent that Ami seems apathetic to the idea of Mitsuko dying. Mitsuko's dad has never shown her any kindness as far as we can see. Their interactions are all negative. Mitsuko's mother was similarly negative to her, though she seems to have a change of heart and is somewhat kinder to Mitsuko once she learns of her husband's infidelity. Even so, she continues to be a pushover and this builds up yet more resentment within Mitsuko. For the first six episodes, we view Mitsuko as a tragic victim. Though we see her express excitement at committing crimes and no real guilt over killing Jay, this doesn't necessarily mean she isn't a victim. Rather, she has been conditioned to act this way by her abusive fiancé Murata. This has the effect of making us feel sympathetic towards her.
However, in the final episode, Sono completely subverts these ideas we had about Mitsuko. When Shin announces that he is going to kill her, Mitsuko seems to have accepted her fate and asks to read out an essay. We learn that she isn't the innocent, naïve girl we have believed her to be for all this time. She deceived everyone, even the deceptive Joe Murata, and the culmination of her deception would be her death at Shin's hands. When this scene came on, I had to replay it because I was so shocked. For me, this final episode was what solidified my judgement about this film being "brilliantly absurd". It ties all of the plotlines together and it subverts everything we thought we knew about Mitsuko. I still believe she's a victim, but not in the sense I originally believed her to be. Rather than being one of Murata's victims, I see her to be a victim of the high expectations of an overbearing family. Unable to live up to what her parents wanted, she sunk into a mental decline. And then tormented by the knowledge that Romeo belonged to Taeko, she became driven by hate and resentment, disguised as apathy. This resentment could have also played into her reason to stay with Murata even after being warned by Taeko--it made her happy to know that even if Murata was having sex with Taeko, Murata would be marrying HER. She would be getting something Taeko wanted but couldn't have, and it would act as revenge for Taeko taking "her Romeo" away from her.
Murata's character was simply brilliant. That's all I have to say really. He's brilliant from beginning to end, and in all honesty, I found it interesting how by the final episode, Shin seemed to be mirroring his behaviours. Yelling at him to take action, the same way Murata had once yelled at others to do things on his behalf. This becomes even more of a relevant observation considering that in this film of theirs, Shin was playing Murata. But even when the camera isn't rolling, it appears that Shin has embodied Murata in some aspect and now that Murata is no longer "interesting" enough for him to follow, Shin is ready to kill him. But of course he doesn't allow himself to be killed. Both Murata and Shin survive, and it becomes apparent that it was never the film project that mattered, but Murata's story of manipulation and the people he dragged along with him. Even Shin, his 'reflection', couldn't out-manipulate the manipulator.
The only reason I didn't give this a solid 10/10 was because I didn't find this film to be perfect. That said, I feel like there is a lot to appreciate in this limited series and I truly do appreciate this unconventional style of film. I'll definitely be checking out more of Sono's work.
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