Movie Review

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This month’s movie is Love Exposure.
*This review has spoilers!
So, where to even start… This Japanese film is 4 hours long – cut down from 6 (!) hours,  some of which Cooper was not allowed to watch (a budgie is stepped on by an abusive father). Eek. Most of the violence is campy gore, though (geysers of blood for example).

The story is about Yū, a young man whose mother dies at an early age. His father becomes a priest and wishes Yū to confess his sins. Yū is a good boy and not having anything to confess, decides to commit some real sins. He takes up with a gang of upskirt photographers and finds success taking “panty shots”.
After losing a bet with friends, Yū must dress as a woman and kiss a girl he likes. When he sees Yōko fighting with some street thugs, he joins in to help her. Yōko falls in love with him, thinking he is a woman named Miss Scorpion.

Aya, comes from an abusive home. She becomes psychotic, shoots up her school and cuts off her father’s penis. But she does have two budgies (the first meets an untimely end), so she can’t be all bad. Aya joins a cult, the Zero Church. She falls in love with  Yū, manipulates her way into his family and pretends to be Miss Scorpion. Yōko joins the cult and is brainwashed. Yū breaks in to the cult to save her. Aya commits suicide and the two lovers are united.

There was a lot going on in this movie. Religion, guilt, love, perversion, fight scenes, blood, cults. Cooper liked that the budgie appeared throughout the film, but she thought there should have been more budgie scenes. The movie is already 4 hours long, why not add some more budgie (who was clearly the star of the movie)?

Cooper’s Book Report

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This month’s book is Cher Ami: WWI Homing Pigeon by Jeoming Dunn.

Cher Ami was a carrier pigeon used in World War I to deliver messages for the US soldiers. She saved an encircled battalion during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in October 1918. She flew a total of 12 missions.
The American army was outnumbered, had eaten all of their food and used all their first aid supplies. Then things got even worse. “Our artillery is dropping a barrage on us. For Heaven’s sake, stop!” – Major Whittlesey.
Cher Ami was the soldiers’ last hope. She took to the air, where she was shot. She flew 25  miles to deliver her message. When she arrived, one leg was hanging on by a tendon, she was blind in one eye, and she had a hole in her breast.
Cher Ami received many awards, including the Croix de Guerre Medal and a palm Oak Leaf Cluster. She died from her injuries on June 13, 1919. Her preserved body is on display at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

Cooper thinks Cher Ami was an amazing and brave bird. She enjoyed the graphic novel style of the book (illustrations by Benn Dunn). There is a fact page and a glossary to help with some of the terms in the book. Cooper was glad that Cher Ami was recognized for her sacrifice. Cher Ami was a true hero.