Love & Pop (1998), based on a novel by Ryū Murakami, follows sixteen year old Hiromi (Asumi Miwa) as she embarks into the world of compensated dating in order to purchase a topaz ring. Soon she is in way over her head in a world of prostitution and predatory men. The film is broken up into two halves. In the first half the film centers around Hiromi’s relationships with her friends from school, each of whom have found a passion to pursue for the summer. The second half follows Hiromi in a single day from client to client as she begins to feel more and more removed from her friends and family.
It’s compelling that Love & Pop follows a non-linear narrative structure for the first half and a more linear structure for the second. In the section dedicated to Hiromi and her friends the film moves from scene to scene as a kind of free association; thematic links rather than narrative links dictating the cuts. This also imbues this section of Love & Pop with a kinetic energy that is associated with memories of youth and interactions with friends. By contrast the second half of Love & Pop has a more low key energy that is stifled by existential dread.
Love & Pop was the first live action feature film by renowned animator Hideaki Anno. Shot on DV tape with a small hand held camera Anno is able to bring the imagination and freedom of animation to the cinematography. The choice of angles and perspectives reflect a mind free from the technical concerns associated with the larger 35mm cameras. Anno straps the camera to actors, has it riding on model train tracks, and all sorts of imaginative things. He also employs a number of video and lens effects throughout the film, imbuing Love & Pop with the expressionism inherent in animation.
It really feels that at times Hideaki Anno is reinventing the cinema and it’s intoxicating to watch. Love & Pop is a masterpiece of late nineties culture that advocates the ready acceptance of new technologies by artists. As an artist myself I found Love & Pop to be utterly reinvigorating.
