Skip to main content
Monster film image

Monster

Kaibutsu

This event has passed

VIFF mainstay Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters) returns, this time to take on the discussion of homophobia. The critique he offers is piercing and poignant. After decades of gems from the director, we’d expect nothing less. What’s fresh and provocative about his latest work—besides a beautiful final score from the late Ryuichi Sakamoto—are its twists and turns. At first, Monster appears to be the story of a boy named Minato (Soya Kurokawa) and the abuse he faces at the hands of his school teacher Mr. Hori (Eita Nagayama), but as the film explores the same events through different perspectives, notions of blame get scrambled in what might be described as a moral mystery tale. What makes him one of our greatest living directors is his ability to fuse elements that are often at odds in cinema. His work is both cerebral and deeply moving, both rich in characterization and marked by a sense of the unknowable. Best of all, like all the finest entertainers, the man knows how to challenge a wide audience without alienating it: Monster is as rewarding as it is complex.

 

Best Screenplay, Cannes 2023

 

Supported by

 

Director
Cast

Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Hinata Hiiragi, Mitsuki Takahata

Credits
Country of Origin

Japan

Year

2023

Series

Special Presentations

Language

In Japanese with English subtitles

Film Contact
Content Warning

Gender or Sexual Discrimination

18+
126 min
Action & Suspense Drama LGBTQIA2S+

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Executive Producer

Minami Ichikawa, Toru Oota, Tom Yoda, Hajime Ushioda, Hirokazu Kore-eda

Producer

Minami Ichikawa, Genki Kawamura, Ryo Ota, Kiyoshi Taguchi, Hajime Ushioda, Kenji Yamada, Tatsumi Yoda

Screenwriter

Yûji Sakamoto

Cinematography

Ryuto Kondo

Editor

Hirokazu Kore-eda

Production Design

Keiko Mitsumatsu

Original Music

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Director

Hirokazu Kore-eda headshot

Photo by Tamotsu Fujii

Hirokazu Kore-eda

Hirokazu Kore-eda was born in 1962 in Tokyo, Japan. Before pursuing film, He had originally intended to become a novelist. His directorial debut, Maborosi (1995) won the 52nd Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Osellam and he has been a fixture at international film festivals ever since, producing a string of gentle humanist films marked by their compassion and grace.

Filmography: Maborosi (1995); Still Walking (2008); Like Father, Like Son (2013); Shoplifters (2018); Broker (2022)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Souleymane's Story

Dir. Boris Lojkine
92 min

Exhausted by the grueling grind of the Parisian gig economy and hopping between homeless shelters, Guinean immigrant Souleymane races against time to prepare for his asylum interview. An angry, tender film which is as gripping as any thriller.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Last Class

Dir. Elliot Kirschner
72 min

Economist and former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich embarks on what will be his last year teaching at Berkeley. What can he impart to the latest generation to inspire and empower them for the grievous challenges ahead?

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood

Dir. Quentin Tarantino
160 min

A film of luxuriant and sinister beauty, Tarantino's last movie to date is a rich and lovely immersion in the dying days of Old Hollywood, LA, 1969.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Last Breath

Dir. Costa-Gavras
100 min

At the age of 91 the revered filmmaker Costa-Gavras (Z) has made a gentle, curious, hopeful film about life on a palliative ward.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Balconettes

Dir. Noémie Merlant
105 min

In this flamboyant black comedy set in Marseille during a heatwave, writer-director-star Noémie Merlant and her two besties have to cover up the unpleasant evidence of a disastrous night partying with the hunk across the way.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Monk in Pieces

Dir. Billy Shebar & David C Roberts
95 min

A playful and engaging portrait of the avant-garde singer, composer, choreographer and performance artist Meredith Monk. Philip Glass, David Byrne and Bjork share their observations.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre