‘Monster’ review: Hirokazu Kore-eda will change your perspective in three acts.

However you look at the events MonsterThe first act is far from how he will look after the third of the film. This is a slow revelation from more than one point of view Shoplifter Director Hirokazu Kore-eda, who returns with this extraordinarily detailed and deeply moving drama, weaves together individual versions of the same events to inform a wider, more complex picture.

Like his 2018 Palme d’Or-winning film, Monster Continues the Japanese director’s knack for constantly revealing the subtle mysteries woven into the everyday lives of ordinary people, leading to devastating, joyful and liberating arcs for the characters. Throwing out “all is not what it seems” is a no-brainer, but with that Monster, that’s the whole point. Where Corey Ida examines the themes of class and family. Shoplifterhe examines the power of perspective and context. Monster.

In particular, each act is beautifully accompanied by an emotionally fluctuating score provided by the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Monster It is his last work, as he died two months before its release.

what Monster in regards to?

basis for Monster Sounds simple, but the rollout is anything but. Cannes Best Screenplaywriter Yûji Sakamoto offers three perspectives on three works examining the events that unfold between an apartment fire and a raging storm. The main characters first navigate this headline-making fire in their lives, then their own stories unfold and intersect at a local elementary school.

First, we meet widow, single mother, and laundry worker Saori Mugino (Sakura Ando) who becomes concerned for the health of her son Minato (Saya Kurokawa) when his behavior becomes erratic. Relating these changes to her teacher, Michitoshi Hori (Eita Nagayama), Saori confronts the principal, Makiko Fushimi (Yūko Tanaka), and confronts the school’s closed-rank tactic of deflecting responsibility. But the truth behind Minato’s experiments becomes muddled when his classmate Yuri Hoshikawa (Hinata Hiragi) shows signs of bullying, and the search for the truth becomes more complicated.

As Minato’s understanding, compassionate, and fiercely loving mother, Endo reflects the audience’s bewilderment at her son’s behavior and the school’s reaction to the accusations—her repetition of the phrase “What’s the matter?” There is a deep connection and almost creates an internal solidarity of the audience. When Savory’s complaint is dismissed as a “misunderstanding” by the school, it is nothing short of outrageous and impersonal. But despite the facts, this is not the whole picture.

Sakamoto’s story is expertly edited by Kureda, threading seemingly innocuous moments through each act to create a complete picture. And while the film’s title suggests the promise of a monster moving forward, this label takes a more fluid power over the chapters — precisely who identifies as a monster, who is treated as one. , and what works as one becomes completely different things.

Monster A subtle masterpiece of perspective.

Over the course of three acts, Monster uses subtle markers to tilt the audience’s knowledge of events, showing how additional details can change the meaning and intent of one’s actions. Minato’s surprising decisions serve a larger, grander purpose with added context. “Wrong place, wrong time,” becomes everything for the characters, who are often not considered criminals in appearance. It seems that evidence of criminal activity becomes an innocent event from an opposing perspective. The sound of brass instruments reverberates simultaneously in the timeline.

As Kureda continually reveals the film’s underlying questions, which begin after almost transitioning from a psychological horror film to an investigative drama, then emerges in a vulnerable examination of childlike innocence, which moves from kindness to cruelty. Is. In particular, Kore-eda makes considerable use of the contrast between a child’s and an adult’s perspective. Along with Ando, ​​Nagayama is deeply compelling as the polarizing teacher Hori, as is Tanaka as the no-nonsense principal Fushimi. But the real stars of the show are the film’s youngest, Kurokawa and Hiragi as the seemingly annoying Minato and the delightfully eccentric Yori. The assumptions, confusion, and technicalities surrounding Minato and Yuri’s relationship become the core of the film, and the young actors allow their characters complete vulnerability when it matters.

The way parents and teachers view events is quite different from that of students. Ryûto Kondô’s cinematography finds the core of each character, whether in Saori’s questioning face trying to understand her son or the school board, or with Minato and Yori running through the forest with freedom and childlike wonder. Here, Sakamoto’s script perfectly captures the imaginative realism and spontaneous bluntness of children’s conversations, which Kurokawa and Hiragi deliver wonderfully. Topics range from the expansion of the universe, to the realities of family life, to the butt and the pope, all in one afternoon. And every time, after seeing where the story ends every time in every act, you as the audience are left in a deeply disturbing place, suspecting that there is no ability to stop what’s next. .

However, whatever you believe is happening. Monster, whatever you think people are, there’s always more to the story. The people are more complex than their actions in the film, though they are rarely considered, often falsely accused of being the titular beast. If Monster Doesn’t make you think twice about the approach, you can do it to see things from a different angle.

Monster Reviewed outside of the BFI London Film Festival. The film will hit theaters in late 2023 or early 2024.