Monster

a bittersweet coming of age story packed with powerful metaphors that had me still sobbing on my bus ride home the story that was told from three different perspectives (Minato‘s mother Saori who really made us believe that her son was being abused by his teacher, then through mr Hori‘s perspective which showed us what a warm and gentle teacher he was and finally through the perspectives of the boys) clearly demonstrated how perspective determines each and every person‘s truth of a situation. I think Kore-eda meant “reincarnation” not as reincarnation of one’s physical self, but the reincarnation of one’s identity. For him “reincarnation” as central metaphor meant realisation and acceptance of the truth or nature of Minato’s and Yori’s relationship. In the end the boys are free from any other influences dictating the “definition” of their relationship: whether it’d be the other kids in the classroom, the homophobia while not openly spoken out, but seen through the fear of Minato not being a son worthy of his father or Yori’s abusive father. When Yori finally asks whether they have been reincarnated, Minato says “We weren’t we’re the same”, which for me meant that they have finally accepted their special relationship. In the end it doesn’t matter whether the boys survived because now they were free.