Those expecting a monster movie from a Japanese production will be sorely disappointed. Or maybe not. "Monster" might be a giant red herring of a title, but it makes perfect sense once the dust settles.
A quaint story of a protective single mother and her withdrawn elementary school age son, this film opens with some seemingly straightforward campus altercations, handled with embarrassingly apologetic inaction on the part of the faculty. As the plot moves forward it grows in mystery, what was crystal clear suddenly turns very cloudy. A clever ploy, reeling in the audience before pulling the rug, yet the real twist here is a gradual reveal of all the characters involved. Nothing is as simple as it seems, yet simple is the goal of all involved. The "there's two sides to every story" theory expands to three, maybe four.
Goading the viewer into questioning events works well, retracing steps from different points of view generates unforeseen power to previous events. Whose truth is the real truth? Communication fumbles, sketches of memories, well-meaning white lies, trust, and relationship clashes (gender, cultural, generational) are at the heart of the film. Who is the monster (if one even exists), and what exactly does that mean, are slinky questions examined throughout.
At the core of the mystery is a refreshing relationship between two very young boys, living in their own fantasy-laden world, keeping the adults, and adulthood at bay. That and the careful attention to detail really does make this feel like a non-animated Studio Ghibli project. A fitting goodbye to Ryuichi Sakamoto who provided his last works to the gorgeous soundtrack, "Monster" climaxes in a carefully orchestrated, stormy finale that, like the opening scene, appears straightforward, but is open to various interpretations. One to ponder.
A quaint story of a protective single mother and her withdrawn elementary school age son, this film opens with some seemingly straightforward campus altercations, handled with embarrassingly apologetic inaction on the part of the faculty. As the plot moves forward it grows in mystery, what was crystal clear suddenly turns very cloudy. A clever ploy, reeling in the audience before pulling the rug, yet the real twist here is a gradual reveal of all the characters involved. Nothing is as simple as it seems, yet simple is the goal of all involved. The "there's two sides to every story" theory expands to three, maybe four.
Goading the viewer into questioning events works well, retracing steps from different points of view generates unforeseen power to previous events. Whose truth is the real truth? Communication fumbles, sketches of memories, well-meaning white lies, trust, and relationship clashes (gender, cultural, generational) are at the heart of the film. Who is the monster (if one even exists), and what exactly does that mean, are slinky questions examined throughout.
At the core of the mystery is a refreshing relationship between two very young boys, living in their own fantasy-laden world, keeping the adults, and adulthood at bay. That and the careful attention to detail really does make this feel like a non-animated Studio Ghibli project. A fitting goodbye to Ryuichi Sakamoto who provided his last works to the gorgeous soundtrack, "Monster" climaxes in a carefully orchestrated, stormy finale that, like the opening scene, appears straightforward, but is open to various interpretations. One to ponder.
- hipCRANK.