Sion Sono

Directing

Sion Sono

Born

1961-12-18 (64)

Place of birth

Toyokawa, Aichi, Japan

Known for

Directing

Credits

79 titles

Sion Sono (園 子温 Sono Shion, born December 18, 1961) is a Japanese filmmaker, author and poet. Best known on the festival circuit for the film Love Exposure (2008), he has been called "the most subversive filmmaker working in Japanese cinema today".

Known for

Prisoners of the Ghostland poster
5.0

In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor, whose adopted granddaughter Bernice has gone missing. The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman—and his own path to redemption.

Prisoners of the Ghostland

2021

Madly poster
4.9

Madly explores love in all its permutations in six short films from a vibrant group of filmmakers representing Japan, Argentina, the UK, the US, India, and Australia. All forms of love are on display in this anthology. And all manners of feelings expressed from jubilance to depression are done so strongly.

Madly

2016

Love Exposure poster
7.9

The story of a teenage boy called Yu, who falls for Yoko, a girl he runs into while operating for the sake of sin as an upskirt photographer in an offshoot of the porn industry. His attempts to woo her are complicated by a spot of cross-dressing - which convinces Yoko that she is lesbian - dalliances with kung-fu and crime, and a constant struggle with the guilt that's a legacy of his Catholic upbringing.

Love Exposure

2008

Minna! ESPer Dayo! poster
4.7

In Notsu, Oita Prefecture, there are many people with supernatural powers. High school student Yoshio Kamogawa (Shota Sometani) is one of them and can read other people's minds. Yoshio uses his powers for trivial reasons.

Minna! ESPer Dayo!

2013

Antiporno poster
6.6

Kyôko, a traumatized young Japanese girl, finds herself struggling with her self-confidence in her adult life. Growing up in a family without her mother and her sister, she constantly questions the rationale of sex and the notion of liberty in modern Japanese society.

Antiporno

2017

Tokyo Tribe poster
6.5

In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with heavy-hitting gangster Buppa of Buppa Town. With Buppa's support, Merra aims to initiate a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru, and in a confrontation between the two attempts to kill Kai of the Musashino Saru. The inadvertent murder of Kai's friend Tera (a Musashino Saru member beloved by all Tribes since before their formation) leads to the joining of forces between all of the Tribes in an all-out war against Merra and Buppa.

Tokyo Tribe

2014

Film credits

2010s · 12 titles

Venice 70: Future Reloaded poster
5.0

Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.

Venice 70: Future Reloaded

2013

BAD FILM poster
7.3

Near the end of the 20th century on Tokyo's Chuo train line, just before Hong Kong's return to Chinese control, masses of people go on a rampage, and love runs wild.

BAD FILM

2012

ami. exe・2nd atom poster
NR

The Dream Man invited Ami to his party.

ami. exe・2nd atom

2018

ami. exe poster
4.0

Wanderings of the young Ami in the streets of Kabukicho, Tokyo.

ami. exe

2017

All Esper Dayo! Special Edition - Esper, Go to City poster
5.4

High school student Yoshio Kamogawa suddenly gained the power to read other people’s minds. One day, he receives mail from Sae Asami in Tokyo asking for his help. He goes to Tokyo and infiltrates Asami’s high school. He then becomes involved in gang fight as he tries to save her.

All Esper Dayo! Special Edition - Esper, Go to City

2015

Making of Himizu poster
NR

A documentary showcasing the making of Sion Sono's Himizu

Making of Himizu

2012

The Sion Sono poster
6.4

Directed by Arata Oshima, son of rebel filmmaker Nagisa Oshima, who had praised Sono's early work before his passing, this documentary gives insight into the man, the poet, the painter, the scriptwriter, the husband and the boy who will eventually grow up to be the Sion Sono. Lineage, history and the past meeting the present are themes in this film in which Oshima connects the dots in Sono's creative life by taking the camera to the site of his upbringing and following the production of his most recent film The Whispering Star.

The Sion Sono

2016

Making of Tokyo Tribe poster
NR

Documentary on Sion Sono's Tokyo Tribe.

Making of Tokyo Tribe

2015

Making of Love Exposure poster
7.0

Making of documentary for Sion Sono's magnum opus "Love Exposure".

Making of Love Exposure

2010

Making of Antiporno poster
5.0

The Making of Antiporno

Making of Antiporno

2016

No artwork available
NR

70 minute documentary on Sion Sono's film "The Land of Hope".

Making of Land of Hope

2013

Tokyo Gagaga poster
NR

Interview with the director that includes scenes from gang war in tokyo.

Tokyo Gagaga

2012

2000s · 13 titles

Tokyo Gore Police poster
6.0

In a futuristic Tokyo where police have been privatized and bitter self-mutilation is so casual that advertising is often specially geared to the 'cutter' demographic, Ruka is on a mission to avenge her father's assassination. Ruka is a cop from a squad whose goal is to destroy homicidal mutant humans known as 'engineers', that possess the ability to transform any injury to a weapon in and of itself.

Tokyo Gore Police

2008

Blind Beast vs Killer Dwarf poster
3.8

A blind masseur kidnaps young women and kills them and then make sculptures of them, while a mysterious dwarf spreading severed body parts around. Detective Akechi Kogorô investigating crimes.

Blind Beast vs Killer Dwarf

2001

The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia poster
6.8

A freelance writer is given a bizarre assignment by the sexy editor of "Black Book Monthly": find a bug with the power to bring humans back from the dead, in order to report on the afterlife. With his trusty companion Endo in tow, he sets off on a quest for the elusive insect and along the way meets the mysterious Sayoko, a former dominatrix and habitual wrist-cutter who delights in rubbing wasabi into her wounds.

The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia

2007

Virtual Love poster
3.0

Nana (Jun Natsukawa) and her colleague Mei (Moe Yoshizawa) spend time in a virtual world with a man and sell their love memories. The next Nana customer is Mitsuru (ERIKU). Nana begins to fall in love with Mitsuru even though she knows she is virtual. But her litigation is a virtual world. Mitsuru in the real world was just a man.

Virtual Love

2004

Teachers of Sexual Play: Modelling Vessels with the Female Body poster
4.2

About a pottery workshop run by Ms. Namie. Her students want to become as skilled as her, and she teach them that the key to good pottery is love.

Teachers of Sexual Play: Modelling Vessels with the Female Body

2000

Damejin poster
5.0

An off-beat comedy about 3 'damejin' (useless persons), who don't work and spend their lives doing nothing. They actually don't want to work. When they hear 'in India one can live without working' they take it seriously. They begin to raise the money to go to India by doing anything but working, such as ripping off stamps from others' letters to sell, robbery at the bank which itself went bankrupt, etc.

Damejin

2006

Teruo Ishii Fan Club poster
NR

A documentary on Teruo Ishii, the Japanese "King of Cult".

Teruo Ishii Fan Club

2006

Strange Days: The Making of Strange Circus poster
NR

The Making of Strange Circus

Strange Days: The Making of Strange Circus

2005

Making of Hazard poster
NR

The Making of Hazard

Making of Hazard

2005

The Making of Noriko’s Dinner Table poster
NR

A behind-the-scenes look at Sion Sono’s 2005 film Noriko’s Dinner Table.

The Making of Noriko’s Dinner Table

2008

HAZARDOUS: An interview with Sion Sono poster
NR

An interview with Sion Sono on his movie Hazard

HAZARDOUS: An interview with Sion Sono

2005

Himiko-san poster
NR

A unique youth group drama set in a deserted local city in the 1980s, depicting the fate of a mysterious girl, Himiko, and the men surrounding her. Himiko, a girl who once left town, returns as a beautiful adult woman. Mukawa, a member of the baseball team who is practicing hard with the aim of participating in Koshien, meets Himiko by chance and is captivated by her.

Himiko-san

2007

Jun Natsukawa - Virtual Love Behind-the-Scenes poster
NR

Behind-the-scenes featuring gravure idol Jun Natsukawa in Sion Sono's Virtual Love.

Jun Natsukawa - Virtual Love Behind-the-Scenes

2004

1990s · 5 titles

Otaku - Children of the Virtual Empire poster
5.0

A documentary that explores the life styles of various otakus in Japan. Various interviews are given to selected otakus who express how interesting it is to be an otaku as oppose to not being one at all. Along with various shots of various Japanese city landscapes and the inside of an average otaku home from rooms filled with videos, models, and the latest in technology.

Otaku - Children of the Virtual Empire

1994

Horny Couple: Wants to Sip poster
2.0

Hitomi ran down to a local city with her affair partner Suzuki. Daisuke, a regular customer of the soba shop where she got to work, fell in love with a bedridden wife, Sayoko, who looked a lot like her when she was young, and eventually regained her feelings of love for her wife. The relationship between Daisuke's son and his wife, Koichi, and Sanae has recently become jerky, and Sanae has finally left home. On the other hand, Hitomi is shocked to find out that Suzuki has a photo of his wife and children.

Horny Couple: Wants to Sip

1999

I Hate You... Not poster
9.0

Draws an ambiguous youth pattern of young men and women living in a corner of the city. The script / director is Eiichi Uchida, a scenario writer for "Eien no 1/2", and this is his debut as a director. Gen Takahashi is in charge of shooting. (8 mm)

I Hate You... Not

1991

Bicycle Sighs poster
6.0

Shiro and Keita didn’t manage to enter university and are stuck in their hometown delivering newspapers. Shiro persists on finishing a film they started, but Keita is not very enthusiastic.

Bicycle Sighs

1990

Heaven's Trumpet poster
NR

8mm film by Sho Fujiwara. A black-and-white cinemasco movie starring Sion Sono. It's a work that has an underground and nostalgic odor. It gets shorter with each screening. BUN-CHAN SEX!

Heaven's Trumpet

1994

1980s · 7 titles

Happiness Avenue poster
NR

When Otomo Katsuhiro saw his manga Good Weather credited as the “original novel” he burst out laughing. There’s not an iota of his book anywhere in the film. Made in the same year as Sono Sion’s A Man’s Flower Road, Hirano Katsuyuki’s Happiness Avenue (where Sono plays a role) is madder and more abandoned, in both filmmaking and content. Lovelorn Masahiro goes on an odyssey to find fulfilment of his heart’s desire, and the sea he traverses are Tokyo’s open sewages.

Happiness Avenue

1986

A Man's Flower Road poster
4.2

A story of the restrictions of family life, the desire to break free, restlessness, helplessness and the fear of becoming an adult.

A Man's Flower Road

1987

Love poster
3.3

A young man dressed as a samurai walks along a road lined with flowering cherry trees. Then, no longer in costume, he talks with the camerawoman who is filming him, he writes a date and an hour (May 1, 1985, 10 a.m.) on a blackboard and then bursts out in rage at the fact that his girlfriend, Hiromi, has been missing for three days. A few moments of their love story are retraced, before returning to the gloomy desperation of the young man, who walks into the darkness of a night illuminated by neon signs and goes into a long monologue of love, directed at the girl.

Love

1986

Decisive Match! Girls Dorm Against Boys Dorm poster
4.0

A world-class marathon becomes the catalyst of clashes between the guests of a women’s and a men’s dormitory. Armed with toy machineguns and pistols, the young people challenge each other in a breathless race through the city streets. For one of the girls, the battle ends on the beach, where she watches an amazing event take place.

Decisive Match! Girls Dorm Against Boys Dorm

1988

No artwork available
4.9

Accompanied by the insistent shrilling of an alarm clock and by two love songs, a young man struggles to wake up.

Love Song

1984

I Am Sono Sion! poster
4.3

Sono's first film, 30 minutes long and shot on 8mm. A free-wheeling intimate cinematic journal in which the artist contemplates his life as he approaches his birthday.

I Am Sono Sion!

1985

Reflect on That Boys poster
NR

The only AV work directed by Sion Sono. Komachi and Reimi start getting wet in search for a man.

Reflect on That Boys

1989

Series credits

Behind the camera

Prisoners of the Ghostland poster
5.0

In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor, whose adopted granddaughter Bernice has gone missing. The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman—and his own path to redemption.

Prisoners of the Ghostland

2021

Madly poster
4.9

Madly explores love in all its permutations in six short films from a vibrant group of filmmakers representing Japan, Argentina, the UK, the US, India, and Australia. All forms of love are on display in this anthology. And all manners of feelings expressed from jubilance to depression are done so strongly.

Madly

2016

Madly poster
4.9

Madly explores love in all its permutations in six short films from a vibrant group of filmmakers representing Japan, Argentina, the UK, the US, India, and Australia. All forms of love are on display in this anthology. And all manners of feelings expressed from jubilance to depression are done so strongly.

Madly

2016

Love Exposure poster
7.9

The story of a teenage boy called Yu, who falls for Yoko, a girl he runs into while operating for the sake of sin as an upskirt photographer in an offshoot of the porn industry. His attempts to woo her are complicated by a spot of cross-dressing - which convinces Yoko that she is lesbian - dalliances with kung-fu and crime, and a constant struggle with the guilt that's a legacy of his Catholic upbringing.

Love Exposure

2008

Love Exposure poster
7.9

The story of a teenage boy called Yu, who falls for Yoko, a girl he runs into while operating for the sake of sin as an upskirt photographer in an offshoot of the porn industry. His attempts to woo her are complicated by a spot of cross-dressing - which convinces Yoko that she is lesbian - dalliances with kung-fu and crime, and a constant struggle with the guilt that's a legacy of his Catholic upbringing.

Love Exposure

2008

Antiporno poster
6.6

Kyôko, a traumatized young Japanese girl, finds herself struggling with her self-confidence in her adult life. Growing up in a family without her mother and her sister, she constantly questions the rationale of sex and the notion of liberty in modern Japanese society.

Antiporno

2017

Antiporno poster
6.6

Kyôko, a traumatized young Japanese girl, finds herself struggling with her self-confidence in her adult life. Growing up in a family without her mother and her sister, she constantly questions the rationale of sex and the notion of liberty in modern Japanese society.

Antiporno

2017

Antiporno poster
6.6

Kyôko, a traumatized young Japanese girl, finds herself struggling with her self-confidence in her adult life. Growing up in a family without her mother and her sister, she constantly questions the rationale of sex and the notion of liberty in modern Japanese society.

Antiporno

2017

Tokyo Tribe poster
6.5

In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with heavy-hitting gangster Buppa of Buppa Town. With Buppa's support, Merra aims to initiate a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru, and in a confrontation between the two attempts to kill Kai of the Musashino Saru. The inadvertent murder of Kai's friend Tera (a Musashino Saru member beloved by all Tribes since before their formation) leads to the joining of forces between all of the Tribes in an all-out war against Merra and Buppa.

Tokyo Tribe

2014

Tokyo Tribe poster
6.5

In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with heavy-hitting gangster Buppa of Buppa Town. With Buppa's support, Merra aims to initiate a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru, and in a confrontation between the two attempts to kill Kai of the Musashino Saru. The inadvertent murder of Kai's friend Tera (a Musashino Saru member beloved by all Tribes since before their formation) leads to the joining of forces between all of the Tribes in an all-out war against Merra and Buppa.

Tokyo Tribe

2014

The Forest of Love poster
6.3

A con man and a would-be filmmaking crew force themselves into the lives of two grief-scarred young women. But nothing is as it seems.

The Forest of Love

2019

The Forest of Love poster
6.3

A con man and a would-be filmmaking crew force themselves into the lives of two grief-scarred young women. But nothing is as it seems.

The Forest of Love

2019

Guilty of Romance poster
6.9

While police investigate a woman found dead in a derelict love hotel, a romance novelist's wife lives a life that seems simply a daily repetition without romance. To escape the loveless monotony, she follows her desires and becomes a nude model. Soon, she meets a mentor and begins selling her body to strangers, while at home, she hides behind the façade of the doting wife.

Guilty of Romance

2011

Guilty of Romance poster
6.9

While police investigate a woman found dead in a derelict love hotel, a romance novelist's wife lives a life that seems simply a daily repetition without romance. To escape the loveless monotony, she follows her desires and becomes a nude model. Soon, she meets a mentor and begins selling her body to strangers, while at home, she hides behind the façade of the doting wife.

Guilty of Romance

2011

Tag poster
6.4

As the sole survivor of a horrendous and rather mysterious accident, teenage Mitsuko's day is off to a bad start. An unstoppable force of nature, a doomed field trip, and a strange case of amnesia easily coexist in a bizarre parallel universe, where a desperate Mitsuko is always on the run from something inexplicable, intangible, and utterly deadly. However, amid piles of fresh corpses, mounds of scorching bullet shells, and rivulets of fragrant adolescent blood, Mitsuko must fight to stay alive, before her already messed-up day becomes even stranger. But one question still remains: who or what is the enemy?

Tag

2015

Tag poster
6.4

As the sole survivor of a horrendous and rather mysterious accident, teenage Mitsuko's day is off to a bad start. An unstoppable force of nature, a doomed field trip, and a strange case of amnesia easily coexist in a bizarre parallel universe, where a desperate Mitsuko is always on the run from something inexplicable, intangible, and utterly deadly. However, amid piles of fresh corpses, mounds of scorching bullet shells, and rivulets of fragrant adolescent blood, Mitsuko must fight to stay alive, before her already messed-up day becomes even stranger. But one question still remains: who or what is the enemy?

Tag

2015

Cold Fish poster
6.9

When fish shop owner Shamoto's teenage daughter Mitsuko is caught stealing, a generous middle-aged man named Murata helps resolve the situation. The man and his wife offer to have Mitsuko work at their opposing fish store. Shamoto soon discovers that something far more sinister lives behind Murata's friendly demeanor.

Cold Fish

2011

Cold Fish poster
6.9

When fish shop owner Shamoto's teenage daughter Mitsuko is caught stealing, a generous middle-aged man named Murata helps resolve the situation. The man and his wife offer to have Mitsuko work at their opposing fish store. Shamoto soon discovers that something far more sinister lives behind Murata's friendly demeanor.

Cold Fish

2011

RE:BORN poster
7.1

A former special forces operative struggling to contain the destructive impulses of his past goes on a rampage against a squad of ruthless assassins.

RE:BORN

2016

The Virgin Psychics poster
5.5

Shy high schooler Yoshirō and his friends mysteriously develop psychic powers, leading to chaotic and often erotic comedic situations as the virginal ESP teens try to understand their new gifts.

The Virgin Psychics

2015

The Virgin Psychics poster
5.5

Shy high schooler Yoshirō and his friends mysteriously develop psychic powers, leading to chaotic and often erotic comedic situations as the virginal ESP teens try to understand their new gifts.

The Virgin Psychics

2015

Venice 70: Future Reloaded poster
5.0

Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.

Venice 70: Future Reloaded

2013

Himizu poster
7.1

Two 14-year-olds from troubled, abusive homes come together sharing misery and pain. In the aftermath of an earthquake, the classmates learn how to survive while relying on one another for emotional and physical support.

Himizu

2012

Himizu poster
7.1

Two 14-year-olds from troubled, abusive homes come together sharing misery and pain. In the aftermath of an earthquake, the classmates learn how to survive while relying on one another for emotional and physical support.

Himizu

2012

Suicide Club poster
6.5

When the bizarre mass suicide of 54 high school girls throwing themselves in front of a subway train appears to instigate a string of suicides around the country, Detective Kuroda strives to find the answer, which isn't as simple as he had hoped.

Suicide Club

2001

Suicide Club poster
6.5

When the bizarre mass suicide of 54 high school girls throwing themselves in front of a subway train appears to instigate a string of suicides around the country, Detective Kuroda strives to find the answer, which isn't as simple as he had hoped.

Suicide Club

2001

Why Don't You Play in Hell? poster
7.3

In Japan, gonzo filmmakers hatch a three-pronged plan to save an actress's career, end a yakuza war and make a hit movie.

Why Don't You Play in Hell?

2013

Why Don't You Play in Hell? poster
7.3

In Japan, gonzo filmmakers hatch a three-pronged plan to save an actress's career, end a yakuza war and make a hit movie.

Why Don't You Play in Hell?

2013

Exte: Hair Extensions poster
5.9

An aspiring hairdresser becomes the infatuation of a tricophilic man who sells hair extensions to nearby salons. The source is the corpse of a girl whose corpse continues to grow beautiful, voluminous, black hair that comes alive, either driving the extension user insane or killing them.

Exte: Hair Extensions

2007

Exte: Hair Extensions poster
5.9

An aspiring hairdresser becomes the infatuation of a tricophilic man who sells hair extensions to nearby salons. The source is the corpse of a girl whose corpse continues to grow beautiful, voluminous, black hair that comes alive, either driving the extension user insane or killing them.

Exte: Hair Extensions

2007

Love & Peace poster
6.9

A man, who once dreamed of becoming a punk rocker, is working as a low salaryman at a musical instrument parts company. He's secretly in love with his colleague. One day, he finds a little turtle on the rooftop, naming it Pikadon.

Love & Peace

2015

Love & Peace poster
6.9

A man, who once dreamed of becoming a punk rocker, is working as a low salaryman at a musical instrument parts company. He's secretly in love with his colleague. One day, he finds a little turtle on the rooftop, naming it Pikadon.

Love & Peace

2015

Noriko's Dinner Table poster
7.0

A teenager named Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Toyokawa, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's family circle, which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.

Noriko's Dinner Table

2005

Noriko's Dinner Table poster
7.0

A teenager named Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Toyokawa, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's family circle, which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.

Noriko's Dinner Table

2005

The Land of Hope poster
6.1

An old couple, their only son, the son's wife, a young man and his lover live peacefully in a village. Then, a terrifying earthquake strikes that causes a nearby nuclear station to explode. The residents must evacuate, but the family lives on a farm, with only half of the area designated as an evacuation area.

The Land of Hope

2012

The Land of Hope poster
6.1

An old couple, their only son, the son's wife, a young man and his lover live peacefully in a village. Then, a terrifying earthquake strikes that causes a nearby nuclear station to explode. The residents must evacuate, but the family lives on a farm, with only half of the area designated as an evacuation area.

The Land of Hope

2012

The Room poster
6.3

A quiet killer is looking for a room. The real state agent, shy and expressionless, guides him through Tokyo, towards the ruins the decadent economy has left behind, in hopes of finding The Room.

The Room

1993

The Room poster
6.3

A quiet killer is looking for a room. The real state agent, shy and expressionless, guides him through Tokyo, towards the ruins the decadent economy has left behind, in hopes of finding The Room.

The Room

1993

The Room poster
6.3

A quiet killer is looking for a room. The real state agent, shy and expressionless, guides him through Tokyo, towards the ruins the decadent economy has left behind, in hopes of finding The Room.

The Room

1993

Strange Circus poster
7.2

The erotic novelist Taeko is writing a morbid story of a family destroyed by incest, murder and abuse. Her assistant, Yuji, sets on a mission to uncover the reality of this story, but the reality might be too much to bear.

Strange Circus

2005