THE FOREST OF LOVE is the latest offering from Japanese director Sion Sono, who seems to be up there with Takashi Miike in producing completely offbeat and unpredictable movies. This one's diluted somewhat, a film which feels less original than the director's previous output; it doesn't help that many key scenes seem to be copied from earlier movies like SUICIDE CLUB and COLD FISH. In many ways this makes THE FOREST OF LOVE feel more like a 'greatest hits' compilation than a proper movie. It's certainly disjointed, starting out as one kind of film before turning into another completely, and there's a disparate array of characterisation, torture, voyeurism, gore, romance, betrayal and flawed psychology. The characters are quite repulsive but Sono's flamboyant and energetic style goes some way towards making this viewable.
Review of The Forest of Love
