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Love & Pop (1998)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
9 January 1998 (Japan)
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Plot:
Teenage drama; schoolgirls, enjo-kosai (compensated dating) | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Dating
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Schoolgirl
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Masturbation
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Camera
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Based On Novel
Awards:
2 wins
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User Comments:
Touchy subject. Bizarre presentation. Only Hideaki Anno can pull it off.
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Cast
(Credited cast)| Tadanobu Asano | ... | Captain XX | |
| Mitsuru Fukikoshi | |||
| Megumi Hayashibara | ... | Voice | |
| Akira Ishida | ... | Voice | |
| Kirari | ... | Chisa Noda | |
| Hirono Kudo | ... | Nao Yokoi | |
| Kotono Mitsuishi | ... | Voice | |
| Asumi Miwa | ... | Hiromi Yoshii | |
| Leo Morimoto | ... | Hiromi's father | |
| Yukie Nakama | ... | Chieko Takamori | |
| Nana Okada | ... | Hiromi's mother | |
| Toru Tezuka | ... | Uehara | |
| Ikkei Watanabe | ... | Kobayashi |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
110 min
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Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Filmed using miniature digital cameras.
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Movie Connections:
References Captain EO (1986)
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Drama section | IMDb Japan section | Add this title to MyMovies |

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.