©2023 “Monster” Production Committee
A film by Hirokazu Kore-eda that turns the "Monster" world upside down *Note! Contains spoilers.
2023.06.07
*This article touches on the core of the story, so we recommend reading it after watching the movie.
"Monster" synopsis
A suburban town with a large lake. A single mother who loves her son, a school teacher who cares about her students, and innocent children. It looked like a typical fight between kids. However, their contradictory claims gradually become important as they involve society and the media. Then, one stormy morning, the children suddenly disappeared.
Index
Breaking away from “slice-of-life movies”
Is it a Monster?
A deafening, loud siren. A blazing hellfire lighting up the pitch-black sky. From the beginning, we witness a building in a city being engulfed in flames. Was this fire an accident or arson? Director Hirokazu Kore-eda's latest film, "Monster" (23), opens with the answer left undisclosed and left hanging in the air. What a beautiful and disturbing opening.
He won the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize for `` And Become a Father '' (13). He won Cannes' highest award, the Palme d'Or, for `` Shoplifters '' (18). His career has transcended Japan, starring Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche in `` The Truth '' (2019), and Song Kang-ho and Bae Doona in `` Baby Broker '' (22). There is probably no need to explain that Hirokazu Kore-eda is one of Japan's leading film directors and a master who is attracting attention from around the world.
He is also known for having created all of his own scenarios, with the exception of his first work, `` Phantom Light '' (1995). By creating stories with his own hands, directing them with his own hands, and editing them with his own hands, he has built a unique Kore-eda world.
“Monster” ©2023 “Monster” Production Committee
"Monster" includes the TV drama " Tokyo Love Story " (1991), " Quartet " (17), " Towako Maeda and the Three Ex-husbands " (21), and the movie " Love Like a Bouquet " (21). An original screenplay by Yuji Sakamoto, known for his work. At first glance, someone else's intervention in Kore-eda's world may seem like an act that could cause the world to collapse. However, when director Kore-eda was approached with the project by producer Genki Kawamura, he unexpectedly decided to take on the project as soon as he heard the name Yuji Sakamoto.
``I've basically written the scripts for my movies myself, but if I were to work with a screenwriter, who would it be?'' I always answered, ``Yuji Sakamoto!'' I'm sure it's because somewhere along the line I had given up on the idea that something like that would never happen in my career. My dream has come true” (*1)
On the other hand, Yuji Sakamoto does not hide his admiration for Hirokazu Kore-eda.
``Mr. Kore-eda was in a different grade and class, so I never spoke to him, but he was someone I looked up to every once in a while in the hallway, saw something he had, and wanted to imitate him and get it. ”(*2)
Hirokazu Kore-eda describes his work as ``slice-of-life movies'' (*3). He has created a rich cinematic experience by carefully cutting out fragments of everyday life and leaving it up to the audience to interpret the stories he creates. However, he himself may have wanted to break away from the stereotype of ``Hirokazu Kore-eda''. By teaming up with the rare talent of Yuji Sakamoto, he was able to create a new narrative.
Yes, this is Hirokazu Kore-eda's ``de-Hirokazu Kore-eda movie''.
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