The Japanese director of Shoplifters uses different takes on a single story to tell the fraught tale of two troubled boys
A frazzled widowed mother, Saori (Sakura Andô), suspects that all is not well with her preteen son, Minato (Soya Kurokawa). The boy seems subdued and withdrawn; she catches him hacking inches from his mop of hair. He asks odd, troubling questions: if the brain of a pig was transplanted into a human, what would the resulting creature be, human or pig? Or some kind of monster? And then there are the injuries – an ear yanked so brutally that it bleeds; a livid facial bruise. Saori soon deduces that her son’s new teacher, Michitoshi Hori (Eita Nagayama), at his provincial Japanese elementary school, is responsible for her son’s brooding disquiet. She confronts the school principal (a confounding reflecting prism of a performance from veteran actor Yūko Tanaka), but...
A frazzled widowed mother, Saori (Sakura Andô), suspects that all is not well with her preteen son, Minato (Soya Kurokawa). The boy seems subdued and withdrawn; she catches him hacking inches from his mop of hair. He asks odd, troubling questions: if the brain of a pig was transplanted into a human, what would the resulting creature be, human or pig? Or some kind of monster? And then there are the injuries – an ear yanked so brutally that it bleeds; a livid facial bruise. Saori soon deduces that her son’s new teacher, Michitoshi Hori (Eita Nagayama), at his provincial Japanese elementary school, is responsible for her son’s brooding disquiet. She confronts the school principal (a confounding reflecting prism of a performance from veteran actor Yūko Tanaka), but...
- 3/17/2024
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
The 66th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards, presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, has announced its winners on January 24, 2024. The nominees are selected from movies released in 2023. The trifecta wins for “Godzilla Minus One” come as no surprise, sweeping the Best Film, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories. Yuya Ishii picks up the Best Director award for both his movies “The Moon” and “Masked Hearts”.
Best Film
Masked Hearts
Ichiko
Egoist
Monster
The Dry Spell
Godzilla Minus One
Mom, Is That You?!
(Ab)normal Desire
The Moon
One Last Bloom
Perfect Days
Bad Lands
September 1923
Do Unto Others
As Long as We Both Shall Live
Best Director
Yuya Ishii – The Moon, Masked Hearts
Hirokazu Koreeda – Monster
Daishi Matsunaga – Egoist
Takashi Yamazaki – Godzilla Minus One
Yoji Yamada – Mom, Is That You?!
Best Actor
Goro Inagaki – (Ab)normal Desire
Ryunosuke Kamiki – Godzilla Minus One, We're Broke, My Lord!
Best Film
Masked Hearts
Ichiko
Egoist
Monster
The Dry Spell
Godzilla Minus One
Mom, Is That You?!
(Ab)normal Desire
The Moon
One Last Bloom
Perfect Days
Bad Lands
September 1923
Do Unto Others
As Long as We Both Shall Live
Best Director
Yuya Ishii – The Moon, Masked Hearts
Hirokazu Koreeda – Monster
Daishi Matsunaga – Egoist
Takashi Yamazaki – Godzilla Minus One
Yoji Yamada – Mom, Is That You?!
Best Actor
Goro Inagaki – (Ab)normal Desire
Ryunosuke Kamiki – Godzilla Minus One, We're Broke, My Lord!
- 1/25/2024
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
Few stories are as gratifying as the narrative jigsaw. How to fool the viewer into believing one thing without lying about what happened? It’s difficult enough to execute on the page, but much more can be hidden in writing. With film it’s a matter of obscuring the context of what we both see and hear, which requires some trickery. Like any sound cinematic tool, it can be misused and abused (see: the MCU), but with tasteful restraint it can be the backbone of a masterclass in mystery. See: Monster.
Writer, editor, and director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 17th feature––his fourth in five years, the third of those to debut in competition at Cannes, with Shoplifters taking the Palme d’Or in 2018––is exactly that: a masterclass in mystery. Or, perhaps, context. What starts as a relatively clear story about sinister pyros, “pig-brained” kids, and abusive teachers transforms, through labyrinthine story mechanics,...
Writer, editor, and director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 17th feature––his fourth in five years, the third of those to debut in competition at Cannes, with Shoplifters taking the Palme d’Or in 2018––is exactly that: a masterclass in mystery. Or, perhaps, context. What starts as a relatively clear story about sinister pyros, “pig-brained” kids, and abusive teachers transforms, through labyrinthine story mechanics,...
- 5/18/2023
- by Luke Hicks
- The Film Stage
Wild Bunch International (Wbi) and Japan’s Gaga Corporation have announced that the two companies will again collaborate on international sales on Monster, directed by award-winning filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda.
Gaga will handle sales for Asian territories, while Wbi will handle worldwide territories excluding Asia. A promo will be available for buyers at the upcoming European Film Market (EFM) at Berlin film festival. The film has been widely tipped for selection at this year’s Cannes.
Wild Bunch and Gaga have teamed up for sales on several of Kore-eda’s titles, starting in 2011 with I Wish, which played at the Toronto and San Sebastian film festivals, and more recently Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018.
Monster is scheduled for release in Japan through Toho and Gaga on June 2, 2023. Scripted by Yuji Sakamoto (We Made A Beautiful Bouquet) and with with music by Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, the...
Gaga will handle sales for Asian territories, while Wbi will handle worldwide territories excluding Asia. A promo will be available for buyers at the upcoming European Film Market (EFM) at Berlin film festival. The film has been widely tipped for selection at this year’s Cannes.
Wild Bunch and Gaga have teamed up for sales on several of Kore-eda’s titles, starting in 2011 with I Wish, which played at the Toronto and San Sebastian film festivals, and more recently Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018.
Monster is scheduled for release in Japan through Toho and Gaga on June 2, 2023. Scripted by Yuji Sakamoto (We Made A Beautiful Bouquet) and with with music by Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, the...
- 2/2/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Sakamoto Scores Again
Celebrated composer Sakamoto Ryuichi has been tapped to provide the score of “Monster,” the previously announced upcoming film by Japan’s Kore-eda Hirokazu (“Shoplifters”). The film has been in post-production since November last year, but only now is the cast being unveiled. It includes Ando Sakura Nagayama Eita (“Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai”) and Tanaka Yuko (“Backwater”). Two children actors Kurokawa Soya and Hiiragi Hinataare were also revealed. The film, handled jointly by Toho and Gaga, is set for a June 2, 2023 release, making it a favorite for selection at the Cannes festival in May.
Close Encounter
Lukas Dhont’s “Close” added to its awards haul with the announcement that it had earned two more prizes at China’s Silk Road International Film Festival. The festival in Xi’an concluded on Tuesday with prizes for best film and best film going to the Belgium-France-Netherlands co-production. The best screenplay...
Celebrated composer Sakamoto Ryuichi has been tapped to provide the score of “Monster,” the previously announced upcoming film by Japan’s Kore-eda Hirokazu (“Shoplifters”). The film has been in post-production since November last year, but only now is the cast being unveiled. It includes Ando Sakura Nagayama Eita (“Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai”) and Tanaka Yuko (“Backwater”). Two children actors Kurokawa Soya and Hiiragi Hinataare were also revealed. The film, handled jointly by Toho and Gaga, is set for a June 2, 2023 release, making it a favorite for selection at the Cannes festival in May.
Close Encounter
Lukas Dhont’s “Close” added to its awards haul with the announcement that it had earned two more prizes at China’s Silk Road International Film Festival. The festival in Xi’an concluded on Tuesday with prizes for best film and best film going to the Belgium-France-Netherlands co-production. The best screenplay...
- 1/5/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Legendary Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto has signed on to write the music for Palme d’Or-winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s forthcoming feature film Monster (Kaibutsu), Tokyo-based production company Gaga Corporation revealed Thursday.
Sakamoto will provide newly written compositions as well as some of his pre-existing music for the film, producers say. A musical polymath, Sakamoto made his film debut with the iconic score for Nagisa Oshima’s Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), starring David Bowie. He later won an Oscar with his music for Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987) and a Golden Globe nomination for his compositions for Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant (2015). The partnership with Kore-eda marks his first work on a high-profile Japanese title in some time.
Monster is also Kore-eda’s first Japanese film since he won the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2018 with Shoplifters. It follows the director’s French film The Truth, which opened...
Sakamoto will provide newly written compositions as well as some of his pre-existing music for the film, producers say. A musical polymath, Sakamoto made his film debut with the iconic score for Nagisa Oshima’s Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), starring David Bowie. He later won an Oscar with his music for Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987) and a Golden Globe nomination for his compositions for Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant (2015). The partnership with Kore-eda marks his first work on a high-profile Japanese title in some time.
Monster is also Kore-eda’s first Japanese film since he won the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2018 with Shoplifters. It follows the director’s French film The Truth, which opened...
- 1/5/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There was a beautiful time when film buffs, critics, and dudes with strong opinions could gather in the IMDb forums and debate everything from the oeuvre of Sir David Lean to the latest episode of "Charmed." Today, internet critics make their way to the easier-to-navigate Letterboxd. Boosted by the 2021 Covid pandemic lock-in, it's now the joint for people looking to curate their watch list with the cream of the cinephile crop.
On Letterboxd, you can log your film-viewing history, rate films on a 5-star scale, and share your thoughts. The reviews can be as pithy or insightful as a user desires, and collated scores help fans figure out what's the best of the best in a given section. With this much input from peers, the app's consensus should offer a fair reflection of a film's quality. This Ghibli fan is going to look over Letterboxd's top twelve animated Studio Ghibli features with you,...
On Letterboxd, you can log your film-viewing history, rate films on a 5-star scale, and share your thoughts. The reviews can be as pithy or insightful as a user desires, and collated scores help fans figure out what's the best of the best in a given section. With this much input from peers, the app's consensus should offer a fair reflection of a film's quality. This Ghibli fan is going to look over Letterboxd's top twelve animated Studio Ghibli features with you,...
- 9/27/2022
- by Margaret David
- Slash Film
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