“… a marvel: a minutely observed, profoundly compassionate chronicle … a Hirokazu Kore-eda film, in other words.” (BBC)
Hirokazu Kore-eda is one of the greatest directors alive – his films are always must-see and Monster is no exception. Minato (Soya Kurokawa), a young boy, alarms his widowed mother by beginning to act in a strange and self-destructive way, and it appears his teacher has a case to answer for bullying him. Gossip and inference quickly become accepted as fact, and institutions cover themselves by empty acts of apology. But things are not as simple as they seem at first. This story, told from multiple perspectives, has inevitably drawn comparisons with Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 masterpiece Rashomon, with the superlative script by Yûji Sakamoto winning Best Screenplay at Cannes. The world is a complicated place, and if we choose to make it less complicated by seeing some people as monsters, we do so at a cost. Kore-eda’s strongly humanist vision refuses melodrama, to produce emotions that are so affecting because of their restraint. This is aided by an eloquent final score by the late, great Ryuichi Sakamoto.
“…a film created with a great moral intelligence and humanity.” (The Guardian)
“…viewers will respond to the touching chords of a drama which is about how monsters – the human kind — are often only a matter of perspective…The real treasure of this film is a plaintive, delicate soundtrack of music written and performed (mostly on the piano) by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.” (Screen International)
“…taut and cannily constructed…achieving something close to a state of grace.” (Japan Times)
This film is co-presented in partnership with the Adelaide Festival Centre’s OzAsia Festival