Review - Confessions (Kokuhaku) 2010

Confessions begins with a half-hour long monologue in which a school teacher, Yuko Moriguchi (Takako Matsu), on the last day of the school term, announces to her students that this will be her last class and she will be leaving the school. Most of her students don't seem to care, some even start celebrating. However, her final lecture/goodbye speech takes a dark sinister turn when she reveals to her class that the "accidental" death of her 4 year old daughter was not an accident but a murder commited by two of her students present in that very class and that she intends to take revenge herself since these students are still protected by juvenile law.

With that opening "confession" scene, the film grabs hold of your attention and never lets it go and even hours after the film has ended, it will remain in your head and have you thinking about it.

Japan's official entry for the Best Foreign film category of the 2011 oscars, Confessions, is being compared to Oldboy and Battle Royale which is as close to a comparison one can make, but it still isn't accurate because
1. The film is very different from both those films in a lot of ways and
2. It isn't as good as either of those films, but, it certainly does come very close.

Directed by Tetsuya Nakashima and based on a critically acclaimed novel by Kanae Minato, this is a grim, twisted and depressing film. Except for a few moments of black comedy, the film is almost completely humorless and it can seem relentlessly cruel to its characters. A large portion of the film deals with the consequences of a shocking revelation (which unfortunately, has been spoiled by several other reviews on the net which I wouldn't recommend reading) made in the opening scene as the plot of the film gradually unveils through the confessions of various characters within the film and with each confession we learn more about the characters and their motives.

Like all other films directed by Tetsuya Nakashima, Confessions is beautifully shot and absolutely gorgeous to look at. This, in stark contrast with the dark subject matter of the film, makes it that much more effective. He exactly knows where to put his camera and when to cut away from a certain scene to increase its impact and does a commendable job handling some of the more violent and disturbing scenes of the film. And given how different his previous films were (which I highly recommend), his ability to make such diverse films has to be appreciated. The film also has an excellent soundtrack which adds to the atmosphere of the film. The performances are all great and this is largely due to the excellent casting of actors. Takako Matsu as the cold, calculating revenge-seeking schoolteacher is especially great in her role.

The film does have its fair share of flaws. Some of the events and plot developments seem a little too convenient and coincidental. But the major flaw of the film is that whenever it tries to explore the reasons behind some of the actions of the student characters or tries to address some of the problems faced by students in the Japanese society such as bullying, it turns into an ineffective, incredibly angsty teen drama.

Those not familiar with Asian revenge films might find it a little too sick and twisted and even bizarre but fans of the genre will probably love it and being one, I did. Confessions is one of those films that is destined to become a cult hit in the years to come.

RATING :

★★★★★★★☆☆☆