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starts ruthless and cruel as a blade and ends in an unbearably sublime poem.
perfect in so many ways & different levels of interpretation that I don't know where to start.
So, the original ending was supposed to be this shot where Hori sensei and Minato's mother find them near the rail tracks and call them and both Minato and Yori look back and stare into the camera.
The director, Hirozaku Kore-eda also mentioned that while making the film, the idea was that the boys survive the storm and run off free of judgement.
Like Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster revolves around the theme of conflicting perspectives, adopting a triptych structure in order to explore the convoluted events of its deceptively simple plot through the eyes of three distinctly different protagonists: an aloof adolescent boy, his fiercely protective single mother, and a naïve schoolteacher. Each character’s inherently biased point-of-view shapes (and distorts) how they perceive the morally complex dilemma at the heart of the story; consequently, the audience’s sympathies vacillate dramatically as new information is gradually revealed. The director, however, intentionally leaves several significant questions unresolved and open to interpretation; by the time the end credits roll, there are still gaps in the narrative—even outright inconsistencies, contradictions, and discrepancies. Thus, the puzzle remains fundamentally fractured, fragmented, and incomplete.
And that ambiguity elevates and enriches the film. “Truth,” after all, is ultimately subjective—as insubstantial and illusory as the shimmering reflection of raindrops trickling down a windowpane. Monster embraces the uncertainty of life itself—and is all the more sublimely beautiful for it.
The real "monster" was the snap judgments and assumptions we made along the way. Kore-ada once again chooses compassion through understanding in his nuanced portrayal of children experiencing trauma and conflict as he unfolds his touching melodrama from three shifting character perspectives (not unlike Rashomon). It's a soulful portrait of youth with adults struggling to understand strange behaviour in children.
Screened at the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival as part of the Special Presentations series.