MONSTER

Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Monster    Japan
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:45 pm

Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu 
Principal Cast: Andô Sakura, Nagayama Eita, Soya Kurokawa
Run Time: 127 minutes
Language: Japanese with English subtitles

Awards: Cannes Film Festival: Queer Palm (Kore-eda Hirokazu), Best Screenplay Yûji Sakamoto; Chicago International Film Festival: Gold Q-Hugo Award Kore-eda Hirokazu;
Stockholm Film Festival: Best Film; Vancouver International Film Festival:  Audience Award; 12 other nominations

““Monster” is one of the finest films of the year, and its structure — like its circle of characters — carries secrets that can only be unraveled through patience and empathy.”             —Natalia Winkleman, New York Times

After a detour in France (“The Truth,” TIFF ’19) and South Korea (“Broker,” TIFF ’22), Kore-eda Hirokazu returns to his homeland to reconnect with the roots that nourished the deepest spirit of his cinema. His art thrives on subtle, delicate emotions, disregards the obvious, and explores the ordinariness and variables of the human experience. 

Quiet and reserved Minato (Soya Kurokawa) — no longer a kid, but not yet an adolescent — lost his father when he was a young child and lives with his mother (Sakura Ando). When he starts behaving strangely, obsessed with the idea his brain has been switched with a pig’s, his mother suspects his teacher Hori (Eita Nagayama) and calls a meeting with the school principal (Tanaka Yuko) only to face a wall of silence and stiff apologies. 

Someone must have put that idea in Minato’s head, but something doesn’t add up. Is Minato telling the truth or is his professor innocent? Looking at the story from various points of view, in a “Rashomon”-inspired structure, reality changes and the actual subject becomes the hidden friendship between Minato and one of his schoolmates, often bullied by other kids. 

A great storyteller of family dynamics, Kore-eda shows once again his unique ability to depict the inner world of children, unveiling uncomfortable realities with a natural and necessary tenderness. 

A milestone in his impressive body of work, “Monster” is marked by two major collaborations: one with co-screenwriter Sakamoto Yûji; and the other with the legendary musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died last March, “Monster” being his last soundtrack.