Monster * * * *

Monster.  A film too good to throw mud at.

This is the latest film from Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda who gave us Broker and Shoplifters.  Hirokazu usually writes his own screenplay, but that is not the case with Monster.

It's a clever screenplay from Yuji Sakamoto and I can see why Hirokazu would want to take it on.  Though one could be forgiven for thinking Monster is perhaps a bit too clever for its own good.  Especially when we are left with a somewhat ambiguous ending.

The story is told three times over from different perspectives. And in a way it reminds us each time how easy it is to judge when you don't have all the information before you.

A single mother is outraged when she learns that her son has been bullied at school. To make matters worse it's not by another student but by a teacher.  Her son has been humiliated, called "pig brain" and he has been physically assaulted.  The meeting with the education board representatives, the principal, and the teacher, brings evasiveness, apology without admission, and from the principal an air of aloofness and disinterest.

Then we learn more about the principal and a tragedy in her personal life.  As the story proceeds the teacher in question is vilified by the entire school. Other aspects of his life are also used against him as they learn he frequents 'hostess' girls, as though this has some bearing on his character.  Further to that the bar he frequents was recently burned to the ground. 

But now we see the boy in question and a friendship he is developing with another boy.  Both are actually very gentle boys from single parent families. Being on the cusp of teen years they are teased and bullied by other students for their sensuality. Their relationship reminded me a little of the boys in the film Close.

Set over the summer months and in an unspecified area of Japan, there are many, many, scenes that are intriguing and confusing with visual clues that are revealed to us later.  It is also rich with symbolism as the force of nature makes sweeping changes. 

At times Monster becomes a complex jigsaw but it slowly comes together to make a satisfying and moving story of humility, forgiveness, and redemption.