Monster

Welcome to an amazing lesson on how to spread empathy in every direction. Surprising, heartfelt, and wonderful. Kore-eda doing what he does best!

Koreeda only makes bangers. Some try to deny him. Oh this one’s too cloying, this one’s too slow, this one’s too derivative, but it’s all there.

A surgical procedure on your heart to carefully restore the warmth you left behind so long ago.

The structure of this is stunning. It is layered, intricate, and its movement alone is profoundly meaningful - but then there is the story and its characters, and the meaning expands and expands until a heart can barely take it. Cuts like a scalpel and rebuilds like divine hands. The final shot is life-changing: "Were we reborn?" "We weren't; we're the same!" and it's *no longer the end of the line*.

A master humanist, the best ever director of children, and of children stories, in top form. Very glad and very confident in writing that in the darwinian history of movies about homophobia -or childhood- this will stand at the higher echelon once the human race is extinct. Its layers demand a rewatch.

Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Monster" pays homage to "Rashomon" with a layered narrative. Secrets unfold through individual perspectives, with compelling performances. However, the slow pace and constant perspective shifts may challenge viewers. The film focuses on uncovering secrets, sometimes overshadowing emotional resonance. The psychological impact of the characters' trauma is not explored deeply enough.

Koreeda, as he is wont to do, directs this shameless melodrama with tact, feeling, and imagination. I still wanted to pull my hair out every time a pseudo-humanistic revelation furthers the Rashomon-like narrative. The best part by far is the inconclusive third act where suddenly the film just observes a friendship, hidden far in the Japanese countryside and soul.

The first act feels a little strange when you don't know about the overall structure of the film, but eventually all becomes clear. Another success for Koreeda!

I found the story gentle and intimate, occasionally funny, but also unnecessarily contrived.

Loved the toying with time, perspective switches, strange sounds, the mother, the question marks and basically everything

This was a banger. Very good storytelling and built-up. Incredible ending. The brass scene was particularly powerful. A few times, it showed a little bit of Hollywood influence, but other than that, I can't tell anything negative about this movie.

audiovisual 88 acting 90 overall feeling 86 avg 88

patient and deliberate, it plays its cards close to the chest, withholding crucial information while laying out a gripping story filled with rounded and complex characters, making superb use of point of view and misdirection without ever feeling cheap, and making the viewer desperate to learn what is really going on, up until the reveal in the third act, which was as surprising as it was beautiful. after seeming like it would go down a path of tragedy and disgrace, the touching and humane ending

Well shot and acted, with an excellent use of perspective to constantly shift how we view the characters and events of the story. The pacing is almost that of a snail, even more so by the fact that there’s numerous repeating scenes. Ending is an interesting and ambiguous choice, assuming I’m not reaching with my interpretation. Definitely a film that I appreciated more than I enjoyed, but Hirokazu’s pretty consistent from what I’ve seen so far.

what if rashomon was made in 2023?

Koreeda is a good director and the last section delivers big time, but this is mostly guided by its Rashmon-esque structure -- "oh, let's see this scene from another perspective" -- and seems a bit schematic, which maybe gets in the way of what he doest best -- telling stories about kids, the special way the see the world and directing them like no other director on earth.

An interesting watch. Once you realize how the film is meant to be watched and interpreted, the story begins to fall into place, and the message becomes clearer. Watch it with the whole family.

an Thought-Provoking work with deferent Interesting Screenplay!!!

Fushimi: "If only some people can have it, that's not happiness. That's just nonsense. Happiness is something anyone can have."

Solid but the third act is too calculated.