MONSTER

Japan, 2023, 127 minutes, Colour.

Sakura Ando, Soya Kurokawa, Eita Nakayama,.Hinata Hiiragi.

Directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu.

A Japanese film with a title like Monster might seem to indicate another Godzilla confrontation. But, no, the monster of the title is the monster in each one of us and its dire effects on ourselves and on those around us.

In fact, this is a film which can be highly recommended. And, it might bring to the minds of those who value Japanese cinema, Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashomon, with its technique of telling a story from the different points of view of the central characters, some perspective shared, other perspectives very different.

Monster opens with an apartment block on fire, a young boy, Minato, watching with his mother, Minato intrigued by the death of his father and his belief in some kind of reincarnation. As the drama unfolds, we find Minato bullied by a teacher, friendly with another young student, but then the focus on his mother and her complaints to the school staff, their seemingly detached apologies, her threatening lawsuits. Already, plenty of themes, family, school, education…

And then we return to the fire, this time focusing on the school teacher accused of bullying and retracing of some of the events with which we are now familiar, but seen from the teacher’s point of view, a different perspective on the school staff and their handling of the situation, especially the principal’s granddaughter has been killed in a home car accident. And, a different perspective on the bullying.

With a return to the fire again, the screenplay has become quite intriguing, a puzzling over the teacher and his behaviour, allegedly stating that Minato had a pig brain – but this harshness actually spoken by Minato’s little friend’s father about his son, a demanding man who wants to make sure his little son is truly a man. So, this part of the film focuses on the two boys, their friendship, taking refuge in a converted railway car, enjoying each other’s company, and a nice scene between the school principal and Minato, her trying to heal his anxieties.

And, we realise by the end, that this is also a film about friendship, the friendship between the two boys, the emphasis on being masculine, the possibilities of an incipient gay relationship and a dramatic climax in which the teacher and the mother search for the boys in an intense storm and landslide.

We often say that there are many facets to the one story – and Monster persuasively reminds us of this.

The director has made a succession of fine films over the decades, frequently focusing on family relationships, sad relationships – and even the bizarre family in his Shoplifters.

1. The title? Misleading – audience memories of Godzilla? Monster here and its symbolic meaning?
2. The Japanese island, the views, mainland, the sea, the skyline, the burning building? Homes, school? The hiding place, the reconditioned carriage? The countryside, foliage, waters? The musical score?
3. The complexity of the plot, in three acts, the different perspectives on the same story and characters – and memories of Kurosawa’s Rashomon.
4. The first act, the opening with the fire, mother and son watching, the conversations, moments of suspicion about the cause of the fire? Minato, his age, the dead father, his preoccupation about reincarnation, speculations about animals and creatures in return, the teacher’s comment about having a pig brain instead of human? A troubled boy? At home with his mother, the scenes of her at the drycleaning business? Minato seeing the teacher who had told him of the pig brain? The mother, going to the school, demanding a meeting with the principal, the impact of the various meetings with the staff, the principal mourning the death of a grandchild, stern, immobile, the accused teacher and his apology, courtesy and bowing, the other teachers? The mother and her dissatisfaction, legal action? The boy in the car, his getting out, her concern, his not coming home, finding the bike, the search in the drain, hearing Minato asking who was the monster? The boys at school, the teacher, the scuffle, injury to his ear? His friendship with Yuri?
5. The second act, the return to the fire, the point of view of the teacher, new to the school, his age? The comment about his relationship with the escort? The audience seeing his relationship? His apartment? Seeing him at the school, the scuffle with Minato, the situation, the pranks, Yuri as victim? The different perspective on the staff, suspicions about the principal and her husband take their place in prison for the accident? The school’s reputation? The staff meetings, the planning of the meeting with the mother, planning the apology, the stonewalling?
6. The third act, the focus on Yuri, his age, size, the scenes with his father, his father wanting him to be a man, the tough father and his brutality? His being the origin of the comment about pig brain, accusing his son? The boys at school, small, picked on, the pranks, Minato defending him at school, the true nature of the scuffle with the teacher? Minato lying? His friendship outside school, Yuri showing him the courage, the carriage done up, pretending to drive it, their enjoyment together? The surfacing of the relationship, the age, changes of puberty, sexual attraction, Yuri, the expectations of being a man? The storm, the amount of water, the mother combining with the teacher, their search?
7. The principal, the encounter with Minato, her sympathy, the musical instruments, her past, blowing out the worries? Helping the boy to understand himself better?
8. The audience putting the different perspectives together, the focus on the night, his preoccupations, father and reincarnation, relationship with his mother, with a teacher at school, with Yuri, to acknowledge the sexual attraction? Yuri, his father, allegedly curing his son, Yuri saying he hadn’t, the companionship and the courage? The truth about the incident at school, the teacher, the staff?
9. Going back to the title, the nature of a monster, imagery of the pig brain, the macho demands of the father, each of the characters with the touch of monster?