Monster, distortions of views

With the break of filming in France (The truthstarring Juliette Binoche) and some television work that takes him away from his artistic themes and interests, Tokyo filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda has been developing a constant and highly estimable career with his family stories, conflicts between parents and children, situations of abandonment, identity of adopted children, survival after emotional wounds, etc.. A whole world that he handles with ease and enormous capacity to construct fictions that move the viewer, as seen in Like father, like son (2013), Our little sister (2015), My apartment of family (2018) y Broker (2022), to name some of the most significant.

Monster It begins with a brief conflict at the school of the protagonist Minato, who lives with his widowed mother, and which serves to put together a splendid script (very justified Cannes Palme d’Or) that offers three perspectives of the event. In the first, the mother goes to complain to the school for the alleged aggression of a teacher, Hori, who ends up being suspended from his employment; In the second, we learn about the event through Hori, and in the third through Minato and his friend.

Con Monster, Koreeda manages with this careful structure to set up a very solid intrigue, so that the viewer changes his hypotheses about the classroom episode and the responsibility of each character. With that it is possible to reflect on our ignorance of reality and the distortions of points of view, but, above all, about the moral dimension and the involvement of each one. The school principal’s false statement and her stance of not getting involved in resolving conflicts is a valuable secondary plot that justifies Minato’s lie by contributing with other boys to the school bullying that his friend suffers.

Director Once again we are presented with children who lack the reference of a father, which explains their insecurities and strange behaviors.. But she emphasizes his innocence. In the end, in Monster What remains is a powerful drama that delves into the complexity of the conflicts that grip human beings and the responses of each one. A truly stimulating film.

Monster (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2023) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️