Summary
Truth, lies, consequences and the convenience of labels are just some of the things Hirokazu Kore-eda explores in this beautifully nuanced and multi-angled story.
Hirokazu’s Kore-eda’s film opens with sirens wailing from across the river. Flames flicker in the distance. We watch the scene unfold from a child’s point of view, the first of several Kore-eda trademarks on display. The child ignites a lighter just as the titles MONSTER (怪物) drop onto the screen. For the next few hours, the master spends his time unpacking this very leading montage.
In fact, it’s fair to say that Kore-eda (with screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto) posits his story as something of a mystery. Young student Minato Mugino (newcomer Soya Kurokawa) begins to behave strangely. He claims his brain has been switched with a pig’s. His mother Saori (Sakura Ando) worries about his seemingly erratic behaviour, and the connection he might have with the fire at the local hostess bar.
Suspecting abuse at the hands of teacher Mr. Hori (Eita Nagayama), Saori confronts the school, but is met with rehearsed and seemingly uncaring apologies from the staff and principal (Yuko Tanaka). In fact, Hori retaliates by claiming Minato is the bully of fellow classmate Yori Hoshikawa (Hinata Hiiragi).
The answer isn’t clear-cut. With the turning point being a massive incoming typhoon, like the cleansing storm in After the Storm, Kore-eda goes back and tells us the story from different perspectives. First we see Hori’s point of view, cementing the mystery aspect of the film, and this is closely followed by the private life of the principal. Finally, we see the world through the eyes of Minato and Yuri, who have a relationship that none of the adults understand.
This latter section is where the already excellent film soars, with Kore-eda tapping into the same magic as Nobody Knows (2004). His innate understanding of children, or at least their perspective on the world, once again shines through in this coming-of-age tale.
With remarkable restraint, and deft subtlety, Kore-eda steers the story into territory that’s hinted at early by Yuri’s father (familiar face Shido Nakamura). Yuri’s eternal cheerfulness is in stark contrast with the remarks his dad makes about his abnormality, or the way the students tease him endlessly. Sakamoto’s screenplay is at once a queer narrative and something less tangible, only coded enough so as not to make it the single focus of a far more complex story.
Kore-eda has entrusted all of this to a remarkable cast. The young Kurokawa gives a measured turn, vacillating between being driven by angst and youthful passion. The always terrific Ando almost acts for the audience, with her visible frustration at the school echoing the cries of injustice in our own minds. Yuko Tanaka, who plays a role that Kiki Kirin might have if Kore-eda had made this a decade ago, is arguably the most complicated. She has her own tragedies and secrets, with a coldly wicked side that would be played up for laughs in a lesser film.
The ambiguity of the ending addresses the idea of rebirth, making the storm at the centre of this story a literal device to wipe the slate clean. In MONSTER, we get a masterclass of a character study in the ripple effects of lies and their consequences. Kore-eda demonstrates his ability to get to the core of these people, and the structure never lets us settle on any assumptions for long.
2023 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Hirokazu Kore-eda | WRITER: Yuji Sakamoto | CAST: Ando Sakura, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Hinata Hiiragi, Yuko Tanaka, Shido Nakamura | DISTRIBUTOR: Sydney Film Festival 2023 | RUNNING TIME: 127 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 7-18 June 2023 (SFF 2023)
