Hirokazu Kore-eda has achieved a level of international success that few Japanese directors have ever attained. While the Korean screen industry has conquered the world, the Land of the Rising Sun has barely made a dent in global cinema, especially when you remove anime and talk strictly live-action. For a decade, Kore-eda has been a notable exception, earning recognition at prestigious film festivals around the world.
He has been particularly successful at Cannes, where his 2013 film, Like Father, Like Son, won the Jury Prize, and his 2018 signature work, Shoplifters, took home the top gong, the Palme d’Or. Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion. After an impressive stint making movies outside of Japan, in languages he couldn’t speak — 2019’s The Truth, in French, and 2021’s Broker, in Korean — Kore-eda returned to his native country to make Monster, his finest film since Shoplifters.
It’s also the first film Kore-eda hasn’t written himself in three decades, but it explores a theme very close to his heart — the plight of outsiders in society. In this case, two pre-teen boys at the centre of a schoolyard drama. Soya Kurokawa plays Minato, the central character, whose increasingly bizarre behaviour leads his fiercely devoted mum, Saori (Sakura Ando), to suspect he is being abused by a heartless teacher.
When she confronts the headmaster about the actions of Mr Hori (Eita Nagayama), the teacher alleges Minato is ac.