Guilty of Romance [extended version] (5 Stars)

Love. Sex. Money. Death.

They are all words.

Do the words have meaning?

Without experiences they have no meaning. But even after making experiences their meaning is questionable. They're just constructs in the language games that we play.

If we had never learnt the words, could we have made the experiences?

Words bring pain. Words bring regret.

We have to cry to understand what tears are.

This is the third time I've watched "Guilty of Romance", but it's only the first time I've watched the extended version. From what I understand, it's not correct to call it a "director's cut". The extended version is the film as it was shown in Japanese cinemas. The short version is what was released internationally. I think it's right to watch the short version first. The extended version has an extra 30 minutes, mostly the back story of the detective who is working the murder case. It's not just a back story; in the extended version the detective is the main character around whom the story is wrapped. In the short version she's relatively insignificant.

The short version is more about words. And love. And sex. And money. And death.

But the extended version does have a significant scene where the detective sees that all women around her are unhappy. Is it because they've learned words?

I need to watch the two versions back to back to be able to compare them.

I didn't realise until today just how philosophically deep this film is. I should have known before now. It's all laid out on the surface, but I was distracted by the sleazy sex and violence. The extended version actually has even more scenes that I find distasteful, but I managed to see through them to the deeper meaning.

Is Izumi beautiful?

Of course she's beautiful. Why does she have to look in a mirror to convince herself? It's ironic that the most beautiful women are the ones who are the most insecure about their bodies. It must be the fault of the men who don't accept them the way they are.

This is the third film in Sion Sono's Hate Trilogy. It's not obvious until late in the film who the characters are. Mitsuko (left) is the Hater; Izumi (right) is the Innocent. Until now I've considered it the weakest film in the trilogy, but after beginning to understand it I rate it just as highly. It's a film that needs to be watched several times to be fully appreciated.

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