Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
It is always a treat to see director Kore-eda Hirokazu return with another film, and this time, it’s his best film yet. “Monster,” written by Sakamoto Yûji, is an artistic masterpiece and a tribute to humanity, a story told three times, each time from a different perspective.
The film presents as a puzzle, offering up little pieces of truth that don’t quite seem to fit together initially, until the following perspective offers more context. There are cues along the way—fire engine sirens, the blaring of brass instruments, etc— to help you keep track of where in the narrative you are, though admittedly it’s easy to get lost. But stick with it—the puzzle is well worth it.
The first perspective almost seems to hint at something paranormal. Saori (Ando Sakura), notices an odd change in the behavior of her son, Minato (Kurokawa Soya), and begins to piece together that his homeroom teacher, Mr. Hori (Nagayama Eita), is being abusive. She is even able to pry some corroborating evidence from Yori (Hiiragi Hinata), Minato’s schoolmate. She begs the school to do something, but no one seems willing to help her remove the monster she perceives Mr. Hori to be from the school.
Then we see Mr. Hori’s version of the events. And then we see Minato’s version. And each perspective provides a shift.
While the title of the film prepares us to seek out a definitive representative at any given moment in the film, by the end, we are struck not by the monster in all of us but the humanity that the story has revealed in each character. The result is a beautiful, tender, heart-wrenching story that resonates so well with the world we’ve all built around ourselves.
There is not a single actor in the film who doesn’t nail their part, though a personal favorite performance was Hiiragi’s nuanced take on the world. And a special note must be made for the musical score, written by Sakamoto Ryuichi, which carries you deep into every moment. Every inch of “Monster” is gorgeously rendered.
This is a film you aren’t going to want to miss. Make sure to catch it at Midtown Cinema this January.
Midtown Cinema is located at 250 Reily St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.midtowncinema.com.
January Events At Midtown Cinema
January Film Openings
“Monster”
Friday, Jan. 12
“The Zone of Interest”
“Poor Things”
Friday, Jan 26
Down in Front! comedy riffing
“Curse of the Faceless Man” (1958)
Friday, Jan. 12 at 9:30 p.m.
3rd in the Burg Movie Night
“The Big Lebowski” (1998)
Friday, Jan. 19 at 9:30 p.m.
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