Love and Peace review [LFF 2015]: “Quite frankly one of the best films of the year.”

Love and Peace review: Love and Peace is a bright, fantastical, enjoyable assault on he senses.

It’s rare, but every now and again you sit down and experience not just a great film, but a film that has seemingly been tailored to your exact tastes. But it doesn’t just cram in all the stuff you like, it actually has a brilliant story and emotion too, as though you sat down with the director and worked together to create something truly personal and right up your street. That film for me is Love and Peace, the latest from Sion Sono. Christmas, giant monsters, rock and roll, talking animals, toys coming to life, magic; it’s pretty much everything I would want in a film if my head was cracked open and pure into a cinematic jar for preservation.

Any fan of Sion Sono will know what to expect, and that is to expect the unexpected. From the man who last year brought us a 100% hip-hop musical in Tokyo Tribe, killer hair in Exte: Hair Extensions, or inexplicable suicides in Suicide Club, Sono has never really been classifiable other than surreal. And yet, his films always have strong stories and characters. For Love and Peace he has concocted a bizarre family film – yes you read that correctly – about one man and his turtle. And it just so happens to be a delightful madcap stab at brilliance.

Ryoichi (Hiroki Hasegawa) is a bumbling office outcast who experiences bouts of paranoia while dreaming of becoming a rock star. To alleviate his loneliness he purchases a little turtle, which he names Pikadon (a term referring to an atomic bomb, with ‘pika’ meaning bright light and ‘don’ meaning boom). The two form a bond and genuinely love each other, as Ryoichi discusses all of his dreams with his newfound, and only, friend. After his colleagues make fun of him, Ryoichi flushes the turtle down the toilet, a decision he immediately regrets. Pikadon finds himself taken in by a host of discarded toys and abandoned pets, who have each been given the power of speech thanks to an old homeless man with magical candy. After he is accidentally given wish granting candy, Pikadon starts making Ryoichi’s dreams come true, turning him into rock star Wild Ryo. But as Ryoichi begins to lose sight of where he once came from, the wishes he grants make Pikadon bigger and bigger.

Yes, that is quite the plot, and need I say that this is one of the most imaginative films you will ever see. Sion Sono has run riot with his ideas and created something that should be nonsensical, far too absurd, and just plain daft. Amazingly he pulls it off at every turn. It almost feels as though this should be an animated tale, but it’s even better that it is live-action. You soon forget that this is perfectly suitable for children, and get swept away in a current of joyous characters and events. There’s a down to earth toy cat that is brought to life with old fashioned puppetry, a team of rebellious band mates soon forced to become subservient to their new frontman, an alcoholic robot, and a doll who wishes to be loved once again. There’s almost too much in this film to talk about, suffice to say if you think of a cross between Toy Story, Gamera, Aladdin, with added Christmas cheer and rock and roll, then you might get a little bit closer in terms of what to expect, but you’ll still be far off.

Taking on the lead, Hasegawa is well rounded and proves quite versatile in a chameleon like role. He is sympathetic but hilarious as the stuttering and anxious Ryoichi, but then comes alive when discussing his dreams. Later, upon turning into Wild Ryo, he is a convincing jackass rock star, but still shows glimpses of his true self. It’s a testament to his acting that the film isn’t completely stolen by one of the unforgettable anthropomorphised co-stars.

Love and Peace is a bright, fantastical, enjoyable assault on he senses. It wants you to laugh at it, as well as with it, as Sono seems completely confident that the right audience will discover it. It has the power to bring out the child in you, and is quite frankly one of the best films of the year. You’ll be surprised at how much you’ll care about the relationship between one man and his turtle, or the plight of a discarded doll yearning to be loved again, and as the end credits roll you’ll look back over the film and realise you were utterly sold on the idea of a magical wish granting turtle and his rock and roll superstar best friend.

Love and Peace review by Luke Ryan Baldock, October, 2015.

Love and Peace plays at the BFI London Film Festival on Tuesday 13th October.