Japanese cinema has been known for bringing international-acclaimed horror and thriller films. From the terrifying ghosts and demons of classic Japanese horror films Ju-On: The Grudge and The Ring series to the Japanese monster characters of the iconic Godzilla, these films have captured the attention and imagination of audiences around the world.
Therefore, whenever Japan released a film, moviegoers would quickly think of horror genres. One example of this is Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s newest film, Monster. When we hear the word monster, we immediately think of something scary, horror, or terrifying.
However, we are telling you, that this Japanese film may become your go-to film or even one of your favorite movies. We’ll tell you why without giving any spoilers.
It is an award-winning film
The first thing you should know about Monster is that it won international awards during the 76th Cannes Film Festival where it also had its world premiere on May 17, 2023. The award-giving body honored the Japanese film with the Best Screenplay award emphasizing its exceptional storytelling. Monster or Kaibutsu is penned by Yuji Sakamoto.
It also bagged the Queer Palm Award for being the best LGBT-related film.
It is directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda
During its special screening last October 3 at SM Megamall Cinema 2, the country’s highly-acclaimed film directors such as Irene Villamor, Petersen Vargas, and JP Habac showed their support for the film. When asked what they were looking forward to in the film, most of them said that they had been wanting to watch a Hirokazu Kore-Eda-directed movie.
Kore-Eda was an award-winning Japanese director who had won prestigious film awards. He won the Jury Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival for his film, Like Father, Like Son, and bagged the Palme d’Or award during the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for Shoplifters.
Now, he’s back at the Cannes and even nominated for Palme d’Or.
It is the last project of Ryuichi Sakamoto
More than the film was directed by the critically acclaimed Kore-Eda, what made “Monster” even more special was that it was the last scoring project of Japanese composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto. It featured a haunting score by Sakamoto.
Kore-Eda described his collaboration with Sakamoto as a “longtime wish that finally came true”. Sakamoto used songs from his new album “12” and old songs to compose the whole scoring. In the end, he submitted two piano pieces, as per the request of Kore-Eda.
Sakamoto was known for winning international awards including Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.
It can also be remembered that Suga of BTS also tapped Sakamoto for his debut studio album, D-Day.
Two months before the release of Monster, Sakamoto died on March 28, 2023, after a long battle with cancer.
It has a lot of plot twists
The only thing we could tell you is that the audience could expect a lot of plot twists throughout the film.
The film tells the story of a single mother, Saori (played by Sakura Ando), who stormed into the school learning that her son, Minato (Soya Kurokawa) was bullied and told her that the person behind it was his teacher, Mr. Hori (Eita Nagayama).
The story unfolded throughout the film showing different perspectives of Saori, Mr. Hori, and Minato.
It will be shown in the Philippine cinema
Well, Filipino movie enthusiasts now have the chance to watch the award-winning film in the Philippines as Nathan Studios is bringing the Monster to local cinemas.
Nathan Studios CEO and actress Ria Atayde shared that she, her mom, Sylvia Sanchez, and Lorna Tolentino were deeply moved and touched upon watching the film.
“It’s a poignant narrative about love, anti-bullying, family, and mental health,” said Ria.
She also assured moviegoers to be touched after seeing Monster.
The local movie outfit teamed up with seasoned actress Lorna and 888 Films International in securing the rights to the critically acclaimed Japanese drama film.
Monster unspools in cinemas today.
It is a film that will give you lessons
Well, it’s nothing new that films would teach their audience lessons but we must say, Ria was right. Monster hit differently as it would make its audience fully understand how important the role of adults is in children’s lives.
“Empathizing (with the film) is important, but I feel that there’s something more important beyond that. Not just empathizing with the main characters, two boys, but I wanted this film to also make people question what adults can do (for the children), and what one should think about,” said Kore-Eda during a press conference.
It would also touch on the issues of bullying, mental health, and the importance of acceptance in the community.
Before we end this article, there’s one thing that we wanted to leave with you that we got from the film: Happiness is something anyone can have.