What makes someone a monster? Is it hitting a child? Is it bullying other kids at school? Is it something that people are born with? Hirokazu Kore-eda’s deeply grounded emotional masterpiece Monster explores themes of self-hatred and misplaced justice.
The film begins by following Saori, a single mother whose son, Minato, is acting strangely, he cuts his own hair, comes home without one of his shoes and insists that he has the brain of a pig and that he’s a monster. One night, Minato doesn’t come home at all and Saori finds him alone in a partially flooded tunnel, at the end of which is an abandoned train carriage that Minato seems to be wandering to. After this, she finally confronts Minato about what has been going on, Minato says that his teacher, Mr. Hori, has been saying awful things and hurting him. Seemingly confirming this for Saori is that earlier in the film she heard that Mr. Hori was seen leaving a ‘waitress bar’ with one of the waitresses.
Monster, 2023. Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda.
Saori confronts officials at the school, demanding answers about her child and uses the ‘waitress’ he was seen with as ammunition. However, she is denied any answers, being repeatedly given the same inane phrase about how the school is looking into the incidents, as well as a half-hearted ‘apology’ from Mr. Hori. The only moment where Mr. Hori seems to deviate from a script he’s clearly been given is when he implies that Minato has been bullying one of his classmates called Hoshikawa. When Saori goes to Hoshikawa’s house, however, the child seems fond of Minato, and denies any mistreatment from Saori’s son. Mr. Hori is eventually fired, but when he returns to the school soon after, and Minato falls down the stairs running away from him. The next day, during a rainstorm, Hori turns up at Saori’s house desperately asking to see Minato so he could properly apologise, and when Saori checks on her son upstairs, she can’t find him anywhere.
You’re then taken back to the night before Minato started acting out, the night Mr. Hori was seen leaving the ‘waitress café’, and you experience the story again from Mr. Hori’s perspective. Following the teacher gives and entirely new side to the ordeal, and makes you realise that he was a lot more innocent throughout it all than previously thought and shows Mr. Hori’s view of Minato seemingly tormenting Hoshikawa and his other classmates. Mr. Hori is newly characterised as a lonely man, who is labelled a bad person after a series of unfortunate accidents, including having his girlfriend be mistaken for an escort by people from the school. After watching the events again through a new set of eyes, the mystery of why Minato is acting this way is at the forefront of the audience’s mind, as his actions don’t seem to make any sense, and he seems perfectly pleasant outside of isolated outbursts or incidents. Why does he treat people so badly in those select moments? Once Mr. Hori’s storyline is caught up to where Saori’s was left off, the two search for Minato.
Monster, 2023. Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda.
The film then, once again, goes back to the beginning of the story and reveals everything through Minato’s perspective. During this final portion of the film every character interaction and story beat is explained in full, and further explores the ideas of how easy it is to misinterpret well-meaning actions or incidents. The film’s unique structure is extremely refreshing and surprisingly easy to follow considering all the jumping around. The way the film is shot changes slightly between the storylines too, Saori’s scenes are often filmed with tight close-ups, suffocating the audience as the desperate mother tries to find answers. Mr. Hori’s scenes are filmed as wide, single shots, isolating the teacher, and exemplifying his loneliness. Minato’s scenes are shot with a mixture of equally isolating shots, amplifying his self-hatred and much more optimistic wide shots, framing Minato below the sky or amongst gorgeous scenery and bright colours, giving the feeling of true freedom.
I would love nothing more than to detail everything revealed as the audience follows Minato, but it is truly something to be experienced without prior knowledge. You’re constantly pulled between viewpoints and what you think about each character is constantly changing in a way that is beautifully executed. I knew very little about Monster before I saw it, but it may be my favourite of the films showing at Perth Festival so far. If I could only attend one of the festival’s showings to rewatch one of these films, it would easily be Monster.
Monster is playing from Monday the 5th to Sunday the 11th of February at the Somerville Auditorium through Perth Festival.