Hito reviews Monster (2023)

Hirokazu Kore-eda's latest film, Monster, has been out in Japan for a while. Here are my thoughts.
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com...
Instagram: / hitokunioka

[@thepinkjungle]

What a great review and yeah, the music was also lovely 😭🤍

[@HitoKunioka]

Thank you! and yes, that score is beautiful.

[@aaronmichael1201]

Kore-eda is my favorite filmmaker, and I think Monster may be his best, tied with After Life. I was just watching reaction and review vids. As a teacher and as a queer person, I was very moved by this from a number of levels. Schools will bend over backwards to protect themselves over the students, over the teachers, and Monster is genuinely frustrating in the most realistic way. Also, it’s one of the most honest and realistic portrayals of being in the closet as a kid. Sakura Ando is the best actor working today, in my opinion, and I was sad she was completely left out of awards conversations. My feelings for this movie grow every time I watch it. It’s so meticulously edited and told, with so many moments seeming, as you put it, inconsequential, only to later pay off as some of the most moving moments in the film. If you listen closely to Ryuichi’s music, you can hear his very real labored breathing, making the music all the more haunting and beautiful.

[@HitoKunioka]

Agreed 100%!