Monster

In this inspiring drama from master director Koreeda, 12-year old Minato is convinced his brain has been replaced with a pig’s brain. Thought evoking about misunderstandings and the complicated world of young people, and winner of best screenplay at Cannes Film Festival.

The award for best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival went to master director Koreeda's latest opus, which was written by writer and director Yuji Sakamoto. We move into the complicated world of young people from whom Koreeda has an extraordinary ability to convey stories.

The quiet and reserved 12-year-old Minato lives alone with his mother and is convinced that his brain has been mysteriously replaced with a pig's brain. His increasingly strange behavior triggers his mother's anxiety. She gets the feeling that something at school is not right and that his teacher is involved. This is the start of a puzzle of a journey where we are not only involved in Minato, his mother, and the teacher's perspectives on what may have happened. But also, the world of the younger and bullied school student Eri, a boy with whom Minato has a very special relationship. But he can't tell that to anyone else.

The film has a special ability to successively convey the same story in turn, as the various protagonists experience it. This shows how easy it is to misunderstand what happened, and especially as parents and adults, to completely miss the reality of the young ones. When we get to the end of this story, all the pieces fall into place, and we see everything that the adults didn't understand.

Lasse Skagen

Closing Film and Awards Ceremony

MONSTER is this year's Closing Night Film. Prior to the screening on Saturday, NOV 18, at 20.15 in Vika 1, there will be an awards ceremony. The event will last for 30 minutes.

Director

Hirokazu Kore-eda is one of the greatest directors in the world, credited with 28 titles. The director has visited Films from the South both in 2009 and 2016, and has received the festival’s honorary award. In 2018 he won the Golden Palm in Cannes for Shoplifters. His latest work is his first South Korean project, and marks an exciting development for the director.

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