‘Monster Movie Review: A Truth In Three Acts In Hirokazu Koreedas Moral Drama
Hirokazu Kore-Eda has written, directed and edited all of his films since the release of his second feature film, 25 Years Ago . It's worth noting that although he broke his own rules and assigned the Monster script to Yui Sakamoto, a famous Japanese playwright, he didn't hand over the editing process to anyone else. Monster is one of Kore-ida's most formally complex films, as well as the most dynamic. We see a child's leg being sprayed by a gunshot into the grass, then fire trucks, then a burning building, and then the cityscape illuminated at night. Some of these images are repeated throughout the film (from different angles) and Kore-ida enjoys moving those angles as a craftsman and cinephile.
The raging flames are first seen from a rooftop by single mother Saori ( thief Sakura Ando) and her school-going teenage son Minato (Soya Kurokawa). In her absence, Minato asks Saori a strange question about how to transplant a pig's brain into a human head. From this moment, she begins to observe shocking changes in his behavior; He cuts his hair, restores things, seems sleepy, gloomy and withdrawn. It could be any teenager, but Saori feels something more. After a night of frantic searching, he finds himself alone in a dark cave in the forest and asks, "Who is this monster?"
Also read | Cannes 2023: Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Monster" received a six-minute ovation.
The most obvious and interesting answer seems to be Mr. Hori (Etta Nagayama), Minato's teacher. After Minato tells his mother that a teacher hit him in class, Saori approaches the school to ask for an explanation. Instead, he accepted the apology (a comical scene in which Hori and the other professors bow together) while Kore-eda evoked the ritual politeness of Japan's legal institutions. While we share Saorin's anger over her daughter's abuse and what appears to be a cover-up at school, our pain remains unresolved. For example, we learn that the school principal, Makiko (Yuko Tanaka), recently lost her granddaughter: she seems confused and uneasy, as does young Minato. "Your son is a bully," Mr. Hori tells Saori, referring to his son's treatment of his classmate.
Monster (Japanese)
Director : Hirokazu Koreda
Actors : Sakura Ando, Ita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Yuko Tanaka
Duration : 125 minutes
Situation: A single mother is constantly searching for answers after her teenage son becomes aggressive and disruptive at school and at home.
Soon the story changes and returns to the day of the fire. Mr. Horry, far from being the "monster" of the title, is seen as a careful and attentive teacher: he asks about his students, putting the future before the name. Later in the film, we see a third and final shift in perspective when similar events occur in terms of Minato and Eri's friendship. Kore-Ida and Sakamoto's approach has been compared to the Rashomon effect since its rise to fame by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.
But if Rashomon (1950) aims to question our relationship with the nature of existential truth and complicate it, Monster aims precisely to simplify it. The film shows how simple explanations can escape our eyes, hidden behind fear, prejudice and common suspicion. The film is set in the modern era where the media and authorities reinforce heteronormative codes and gossip abounds. The film does not blame the people, but the words; It shows how the subtle cruelty of language, whether accidental or intentional, can have devastating consequences.
"Monster" is Kore Eda's first film in his native Japan since "Shoplifters" (2018). Contains all your favorite images and tropes: It's Kore-ida when Minato asks for some privacy to talk to Saori's image of his dead father. Reuniting with fellow cinematographer Kondo Ryuto, Kore-eda creates an emotionally evocative and carefully observed world, aided by Ryuichi Sakamoto's hauntingly beautiful and elemental soundtrack. Sakamoto died of cancer earlier this year. Monster pays tribute to the legendary composer not only in the closing credits, but also in a scene where his music literally saves a soul. It's a welcome homage to a film where one of its central themes is the idea of being reborn and reborn.
Monster was screened at the Jio MAMI Film Festival 2023 in Mumbai.
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