Film Review: ‘Monster’ (Kaibutsu) directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Rating: ★★★★★
“Monster” (Kaibutsu), winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, directed by the esteemed Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, paints a picture of a community in distress, grappling with profound trauma, and whose residents are ensnared in neglect and avoidance of responsibility. In his latest work, Kore-eda scrutinizes his characters with precise and profound insight, devoid of judgment and evasion. The film serves as an exemplar of psychological inquiry and societal exploration in the wake of trauma. Following its premiere at Cannes and accolades for Best Screenplay, it has been featured at prestigious festivals including Chicago, Munich, San Sebastian, Stockholm, Sydney, and Vancouver, solidifying its status as one of the most pivotal films of 2023.
In “Monster, ” a mother demands answers from her son’s teacher when her son begins acting strangely.
“Monster” appears as the main and powerful motif in the film. This motif, which appears both in psychology and sociology, can be examined within the characters, interpersonal relationships, and also in the environment (society and the world in which the film takes place). If you look in a dictionary, one of the definitions of the word “monster” is: “a large, ugly, and frightening imaginary creature”. A psychological interpretation of the word in the film is that “monster” is a symbol of our deepest fears and anxieties. It can also be a symbol of “our internal demons”. In this sense, when we cannot face the insecurities, traumatic experiences and fears that have been internalized in us, we externalize them and turn to psychological projection and blame others. Projection, the behavioral motif of the movie’s adult characters. “Monster” in the film also refers to people who we think are far from the society norms and traditional values, by the generation that has authority (parent’s generation) and is in power (for example, a mother, a school principal, a father of a family) towards another.
The first reference to the concept of “monster” in the movie is when Minato (Soya Kurokawa) asks his mother Saori (Sakura Andô) “If a human gets a pig’s brain transplanted, is it a human or a pig?” A creature that is a combination of a human and a pig can be very scary, and we do not think of it as anything but a monster. The discussion is about this combination. A brain that thinks like a pig (animal) and a body that is human. I would like to think deeper and extend this to combining a value in society with something that is hated in society. In various scenes we see Minato saying “I’m a monster” and writing it on many sheets of paper in his room, and somewhere in the movie this dialogue turns into “Who is the monster?”; By this I mean that the motif of the monster is constantly morphing, attributed to self or other, but not removed. Perhaps the reason is that the nature or spirit of the “monster” and the imaginary characteristics of a monster are alive and living in society.
I want to use the father-mother-child triangle (Oedipal triangle) to discuss the family structure in the film “Monster”. Let’s look at the families of the characters. In Minato and his mother’s family, the father’s side is absent. In Yori and his father’s family, the mother’s side is missing. Hori’s life lacks both parents. Even the school principal’s family lacks a child. Consequently, each character’s life is missing a vital component, which we can relate to emotional and intellectual growth.
In “Minato’s Life,” the character’s father is absent, and he suffers from separation anxiety. Throughout the movie, we realize that his mind is preoccupied with the issue of “being reborn” in relation to his father. This indicates his desire to find a semblance of his father’s character around him to reconcile with it. We see this in his relationship with his classmate Yori (Hinata Hiiragi). Perhaps even subconsciously, he thinks his father has been reincarnated in Yori’s body. Minato identifies himself with being a “pig” and a “monster,” influenced by Yori’s words. Yori says, “I have an illness. My brain is a pig’s brain.” In response to his mother’s inquiry about who said his brain is like a pig’s, Minato says, “My teacher, Mr. Hori.” A subtle and insightful aspect of addressing the father figure in the film is that Mr. Hori (Eita Nagayama) symbolizes Minato’s father. Subconsciously, Minato wants to punish the father figure for leaving him (Minato’s father is dead), which is why he lies about Mr. Hori.
The film “Monster” sharply criticizes parents and depicts them as “monsters” through its characters. Hirona (Mitsuki Takahata), Mr. Hori’s girlfriend, tells him at one point, “Parents are like monsters. Teachers are being crucified these days.” The analogy of parents to monsters stems from their neglectful upbringing of their children, attempting to deflect blame onto others. For instance, Minato’s mother blames Mr. Hori and goes to great lengths to have him fired and ostracized in society. Consider Yori’s father as another example; he tells Mr. Hori that his son’s brain isn’t human, it’s that of a pig, and expresses his desire to make him human again. Or take the school principal, who unintentionally runs over his grandchild with her car while backing up, then coerces her husband into taking responsibility for the accident.
Themes of neglect, accusation, coincidence, and judgment in the film are intertwined like a blind knot. Hirokazu Kore-eda presents a single story from multiple angles, each time focusing on the life of a different character. In each segment, we become involved in judgment based on what the director shows us; and when the same story is told from another perspective, we realize we’ve only seen a corner of the truth, not the whole picture. Thus, when the narrative becomes clear to us, we understand our judgment was superficial and premature, and like the characters who have fallen into neglect, we blame others. Many events occur based on coincidence. In these coincidences, a character arrives and judges other actions based on what they’ve seen and imagined. All these are features that are Monster-makers in the universe the film takes place, and its inhabitants exhibit monstrous behavioral traits.
In one of the scenes towards the end of the film, Minato converses with the school principal in the school’s music room. In this scene, instead of lying, accusing, or deflecting, the characters engage in a dialogue. The school principal says, “Blow away something you can’t tell anyone in this trumpet,” which symbolizes releasing suppressed fears, trauma, and inner pain. When he and the school principal blow into the large brass instruments, a loud sound is heard, as if they are screaming out their fears, pains, and traumas, and this sound is the very sound of the “Monster” in the film. The terrifying sound represents the fears, pains, and traumas that are now being released and can potentially liberate the characters.
“Monster” (Kaibutsu), the latest work of Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, is a powerful piece with a strong and solid screenplay. The film’s multilayered nature, along with its employment of strong themes in psychology and sociology, coupled with precise and accurate character development, accompanied by commendable performances, has transformed the film into one of the standout cinematic works of 2023.
