politic1983 Switching from animation to "live action" is always going to prove interesting as to how a director approaches the new medium, particularly when that director previously held the reigns over "Neon Genesis Evangelion". His first feature featuring real humans, the anime background of Hideaki Anno is clear in his film "Love & Pop", as well as some of the themes present throughout his career.To start, it is clear that we are not watching a film from a conventional director. Numerous hand-held cameras are used in close proximity to the cast, covering every conceivable angle, resulting in an endless stream of edits, that leave the viewer disorientated as to who and what they are seeing. "Love & Pop" is a film that many could quickly turn off within the opening couple of minutes; plot and characters difficult to initially establish. But, for those of us that realise that some of the quick edits include under the table shots of girls in short skirts, the more of the film that is watched, the more the collection of edits grows into an innovative film mirroring the youth culture it captures.Hiromi, Nao, Chisa and Chieko are four (count them) friends who spend their days around the concrete playground of Shibuya, Tokyo. Though with the onslaught of edits, it's a little difficult to really establish who is who and any nuance of character. But what becomes clear is that these are not girls up to innocent activities; but are partaking in enjo kosai: high school girls performing various acts in exchange for rectangular pieces of paper with dead people's faces and numbers printed on them. Acquiring a phone with which they can leave flirtatious messages, the girls wonder the streets over a twenty-four hour period, meeting various men along the way. Shopping for bikinis for a planned trip to the beach, the story develops when Hiromi spies an expensive ring in a department store. Needing money, the girls set about earning enough to buy it. It's at this point when focus switches more to Hiromi, and you feel the editing and camera movements calm down a little (whether they actually do or not). Meeting two men in separate encounters, she is forced to realise that quick money earned may get her the things she wants, but will leave her feeling less-than-positive about herself. After meeting with a shut-in to accompany him on a trip to the video store (which results in a session of unwanted pocket billiards), she then converses with the mysterious "Captain X" on the phone the group have been using. Being that this is a film made within two years of the new millennium, Tadanobu Asano takes up this role, taking her to a love hotel, only to angrily berate her for stripping naked in front of a man she has just met in exchange for money. Slowing the pace down towards the film's conclusions, Hiromi meets with the phone's owner who provides words of advice for her, which leave her feeling she is better off at home with her family, rather than wondering the streets in seedy encounters. The ring left un- purchased, despite raising the funds, Hiromi is more assured is herself than the lost girl of the film's beginning.The film's progress adequately reflects Hiromi, starting as a messy collection of shots, Hiromi unsure of what she really wants in life, distracted by the endless flashing lights of the various media that surround the modern world. But gradually, these become more focused, resulting in two key scenes which leave an impact on her, ending in a more settled and calm manner. In this sense, Anno's live action debut is accomplished filmmaking, putting the audience through a day in Hiromi's head. Looking at the lives of teenage girls and youth searching for direction, this is very much in keeping with much of Anno's anime work, though more importantly tackles the phenomenon of enjo kosai and how quickly and easily teenage girls find themselves in dangerous situations in the simple pursuit of a few quid. Based on Ryu Murakami's book "Topaz II", Anno neither glorifies nor vilifies the girls - or indeed their male clients - showing it as an almost normal part of daily life. And this is perhaps where the problem lies. Perhaps fittingly for a film of such high editing, the end credits accompany a long take of the four girls walking through the sewage ways of Shibuya in unison to close an unconventional approach to cinema, but one that definitely has its merits. Followed by "Ritual" a couple of years later, it is perhaps a shame that Anno has stuck to working mainly in anime - the recent "Shin Godzilla" aside - though one's lost will always be the other's gain. politic1983.blogspot.co.uk

luka313 This film isn't something mind-blowing, but its special in its own way, cause of peculiar way Hideaki makes his movies.The film follows four Japanese high school girls who engage in enjo kosai, or compensated dating. This is a practice in Japan where older businessmen pay teenage girls more commonly to simply spend time with them, or rarely for prostitution. The movie is also a coming-of-age story. The main character, Hiromi, does not have the direction in life that her friends already have. Hiromi's friends were going to buy Hiromi a ring, but Hiromi refuses to take all the money because she does not want her friends to be jealous. Hiromi goes on dates by herself to get money for the ring. Soon, she gets in over her head. Hiromi falls too far into the world of enjo-kosai as she tries to hold onto a "friends forever" vision of the past.I gave it 9 out of 10 only because of Hideaki's sheer creativity in this film, storytelling, choosing camera, and camera shots (i find it so refreshing), and few other cool stuff...If you like Art & Creativity, you'll sure like Love & Pop.

rooprect This film is about pedophilia, perversion and prostitution through the eyes of 15-17 year old high school girls. It was filmed entirely using mini digital cameras mounted in bizarre places (like in a bowl of soup, on a pair of chopsticks and up a girl's skirt).OK, if that didn't scare you off, then please continue reading.It's a heavy, disturbing subject right off the bat. That plus the unconventional camera-work rings of "pretentious art house film". But somehow Hideaki Anno pulls it off. I suspect that it's because this is a sort of *tongue-in-cheek* pretentious art house film. Unlike certain snotty Cannes Film Festival contenders who seem to take themselves too seriously, Anno deliberately goes way over the top, as if to say, "Yes, I am a very strange man who likes to put cameras in microwave ovens." As a result, the mood of this film is a cross between CLOCKWORK ORANGE and AIRPLANE 2. Take it or leave it.You might be wondering why I rated it only 6/10 despite the fact that I seem to be praising it. You see, I've rated it on my special Hideaki-Annometer which grades on a much tougher scale. True, it's a worthwhile film. But relative to some of his other work, this comes across as a bit experimental and fractured.His later work SHIKI-JITSU is the perfection of what we see here. You'll even notice many recurring trademarks such as train tracks, red lighting and "countdown" intertitles. In the two years following LOVE & POP, Hideaki Anno mastered the style he dabbled in here.But oh wait I forgot about the music. (I may have to bump my rating up to a 7.) As with SHIKI-JITSU, he matches the perfect doleful piano pieces with poetic voice-over narration. In particular, I recognized a few Chopin sonatas, Debussy's "Claire de lune" and 1 or 2 other haunting melodies. Despite the vulgarity of the subject matter, these classical/romantic pieces provide a very interesting counterbalance. And I believe that is the whole theme of the film: the precarious balance between perversion and innocence.It's certainly a memorable film. But it requires some patience. Be sure to stick around for the 2nd half when things get REALLY weird.

si at first i didnt think much of this movie. i skimmed through it and was getting ready to delete it but decided to watch it once out of boredom. The first half of the movie was what i expected, boring japanese teenage schoolgirl's life accompanied by crazy camera anglges, very reminisce of a shoddy indi film... the characters that paid for the girls to accompany them were definitely colorful and i doubt real ppl like that in the same situation would do the same. Right till the point when i was bored out of my mind watching, in comes the last character, Captain EO... what happens afterwards totally changed my mind about this movie. Everything just comes together after that one big scene, and im like ****, why didnt i notice that before..