Monster (2023)

Feb 2

Constantly shifting perspectives that might just shift yours.

Presentation:

Similar to The Duel, this film utilizes shifting perspectives from a teacher, mother and child to explore a coming of age tale of a troubled child. It’s an interesting device, but after watching it’s a little hard to recommend the merits of this plot structure. The visuals are a bit uncanny, utilizing over halated blooming to take the edge of the digital sensors of DJI gimbal cameras and Sony along with Canon FDs and Zeiss Masterprime anamorphics. It’s a bit dream-like especially with signaturely Japanese use of clipped highlights, but I can’t help but feel the story would have been complemented better shot on film. Nevertheless, although some shots are quite beautiful with HDR visuals, it can be sometimes look artificially lit when it shouldn’t such as rain when it’s sunny. It doesn’t exactly feel high budget and I could believe a commercial DP shot this. Fortunately the visuals are not important as it’s the story that matters the most. I think the acting isn’t particularly superb, which may be an unfair criticism considering they are children, but the emotional payoff is what the entire film hinges on. That being said, it is touching and compassionate and moved me despite many of the flaws.

Analysis:

The main story line is Minato’s relationship with Yori at the final third perspective shift. The first two perspectives allude to another teacher abuse scandal that is nearly irrelevant to what the film actually tries to accomplish. This plot device provides intrigue and mystery, which surprises you with how heartfelt the boys relationship is but this film really could standalone with just the third act and completely omit the first two. The first one does have purpose in that adults might better understand why kids act out and let parents understand and be open to accept children coming out, but it’s really hard to see the purpose of the second act. The teacher doesn’t really facilitate anything significant and serves only to provide unnecessary drama and confusion. This makes the perspective shifts more like red herrings designed to distract you and ultimately feel pointless. They aren’t even presented in a nuanced way where you can watch a second time and go, “oh yeah, that makes sense now”. Is there really an explanation why the principal trips the little children? It’s an extravagant introduction simply to throw you off with little relevance, solely just setting up the pieces for the third act. The love that ensues thereafter is quite pure and well done, however as I mentioned the acting isn’t as strong as other films and there are times where it doesn’t deliver authenticity. The monster refers to the lies and guilt that contain our true feelings. Everyone is a bit of a monster, lying about their feelings, betraying their friends, teachers and spouses. The abusive father of Yori attempts to beat his son out of his homosexual or effeminate behavior described as pigs for brains, which I found to be a bit overdramatic when these kids are less than 10 years old. It just seems a bit overly precocious but luckily their romance never crosses into disbelief. Before the rainstorm the gate near their abandoned bus hideout is referred to “as end of the line”, a metaphor for their taboo relationship. Even at first Minato rejects his feelings, cutting off his hair and bullying Yori out of peer pressure. After the rainstorm we see the two boys running cathartically after the rainstorm of change and the gates are open. This strongly suggests a metaphor for sexual freedom or ambiguously a postively generic motif of growing up commonly used in coming of age tales. I actually found the conversation between the principal and Minato to be the most profound. I think the ideas of lying to preserve societal expectations juxtaposed to sexual repression was well executed. As for the moral ambiguity of shifting perspectives and outlooks, I felt like it was mostly background noise and a distraction to more substantial ideas.

Conclusion:

With a title like Monster, it’s a bit misleading coming into this film especially because the beginning presents itself as a mystery thriller. The film is actually a melodramatic coming of age tale explaining the strange behaviors of kids. The presentation suffers because of their inexperience and it always feels like the kid’s glove are on so we never feel genuine stakes or emotional depth. For this reason, I think the reception will be a mixed bag, but even if that’s the case the message and compassion are so pure that it might make you disregard the little monsters holding this film back. An imperfect yet refreshing modern Japanese film that might not be as powerful as other coming of age classics, but very welcome. You should probably watch this one simply for how truthfully it depicts the deceptive innocence of children.

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