Just Beautiful
This is going to be a rant while simultaneously convincing you to watch this beautiful movie.The movie at first is seemingly about a young boy named Minato who is being “bullied” by his homeroom teacher. The homeroom teacher is convinced the boy Minato is bullying his classmate Yori. We come to see different perspectives on different situations throughout the movie that truly just make your heart ache.
This movie is not only outstanding with the cinematography and breathtaking acting but the overall ending to the story.
At first you’re left with an “open-ended” feeling being to what was such a beautiful movie but to me there was nothing open ended about it.
To me the ending symbolized the end of suffering for both Minato and Yori for just being who they were as humans.
This movie does a great job at showing the subtle behavior of someone who is questioning their sexuality at such a young age.
I saw many people say they haven't watched it yet because “they’re children” and were afraid that this movie was grooming them.
First, if you’re worried about them being “groomed” then congratulations because you are part of the problem in the world with such negative lighting towards the queer community. What does it matter how old they are? If you think people don’t already know or experience their queerness before becoming an “adult” then maybe you should seek out more queer stories from the queer community.
People who clearly think other wise only watch queer films to further fetishize the gay community.
Overall I just can’t simply talk about how beautiful this movie was and will still be years to come.
You should watch it because it’s a 10/10.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
SO GOOD
I think the best way to describe this movie is, beautiful but painful.The beauty in every scene, you can literally see the efforts of the actors/actresses and the whole team.
The story is so good and I loved how we can see the differences in the povs.
This is such a great criticism for the society, they're children, they should be allowed to enjoy their childhood without feeling pressure of what the society will say.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Are we humans or monsters?
This movie didn't make me cry. But, it left a void in my heart. It pains and it hurts as if someone had stabbed my heart. I wish everyone in this world watches this movie irrespective of who they are. It will give a chance for us to destroy our inner demons and become more humane.The story is told from three perspectives: Saori is a single mother who finds that her son is exhibiting strange behaviors lately. Her son Minato admits that he was beaten and abused by his teacher Hori. After this arc, we all tend to blame Hori. Then, we get Hori's perspective - he had always been kind to his students and Minato was injured by him accidentally. However, the whole school and press labels him as an abusive teacher and he is fired from his job. At this point, we audience tend to be indifferent towards Hori and think that he deserves to be hated. But, the real story is hidden behind Minato's POV. Minato has a crush on Yori, a boy in his class. Yori is often bullied by his rude classmates for his girly behavior. Minato is in denial because of the society norms and that causes him extreme stress, to the extent that he starts questioning his existence. Yori is always physically abused by his alcoholic single father, who believes that Yori has a disease and that he is a monster with pig brains. Despite all the bullying at school and the abuse from his father, Yori is very optimistic and gentle. The girls around him are always kind, but the boys give him a tough time. This factor alone shows how women are more matured, understanding and have an high degree of empathy within them. Parallel to all three arcs, we see the cold principal of the school. It is said that she killed her grandchild accidentally and let her husband take the fall, who is currently imprisoned. Whether its true or false is left to our own judgement.
I felt the movie was a huge irony in more than one way. In today's date, where social media is a rage, we don't fact-check everything before we draw conclusions. We only hear the narratives we favor. We don't want to listen to the other sides of the story. In fact, we don't even believe there are other narratives. Lets say, you come across a reel about an actor being accused of a hit-and-run. If you like the actor, you will say he's being framed. If you don't like the actor, you will say he deserves jail. And if you don't know the actor, you just ignore the reel, forgetting the reel quickly. There are many cases where innocent people commit suicide because of the hateful comments on social media. If even one life is lost because of our harsh words, aren't we monsters?
Throughout the film, rebirths are often mentioned, mostly by Minato. The ending leaves us hanging with many possibilities. Again, our perceptions come at play here. There are many hidden messages within the movie. For instance, Yori has become immune to the bullying and abuse because he is so much used to it - he doesn't feel anything anymore. This was revealed through a card game with Minato.
The entire cast were amazing, but the performance of the child actors are impeccable. That was Oscar-level acting. It is isn't easy to act in sensitive topics as a child.
Overall, this movie widened my horizons. It was thought-provoking and an eye-opener. No wonder it won so many laurels, including the Cannes festival.
Was this review helpful to you?
Just watch it
Watched it without any hint to what it was about or anything. It exceeded my expectations. A top notch movie.Made me feel goosebumps, the cinematography, the different views showing different perspectives, the acting , everything was top notch. The ending was perfect too, leaves you with your own interpretation. Don't want to give you all any spoiler, just watch it.Was this review helpful to you?
Absolute Must See...!!!
I've watched A LOT of J-Drama's over the years. This one REALLY hit home with me personally and otherwise. You'll be thrown off at first when starting the film as to what it's about. But as it progresses it turns into a BEAUTIFUL emotional story between two kids and there feelings for each other. I could so totally relate to what they both were struggling with as i did myself when i was about there age maybe a bit older. Everything from the story itself, to the actors, music, and scenery is on spot. Please don't pass up this gem folks. It truly is a tear jerker so make sure you have your tissues ready. I can't emphasize enough it's probably one of THE BEST Asian drama's i've seen in a long while. This is the kind of film or drama series i want to see MUCH, MUCH, more of. 10/10...!!!Was this review helpful to you?
Best Movie I’ve watched this year…
I don’t know how to begin. In the beginning I was not expecting much, thought that was just another school bullying case that gets ignored by the higher ups like in “Silenced - Korea 2011” but oh my gosh… I kept trying to guess things but I was only faced with surprises and every single thing was so so unexpected I watched the last hour with my mouth open jaw on the floor. I could never express how much this movie has changed me.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
It's weirdly good like yeah it makes u feel so bad and so good at the same time. I like how they showed that how one person's trauma can effects others so much and sometimes ended up ruining their lives and personalities. The ending was like based on viewer how they take it. Some will say it's happy ending that now they ran away and are happy together and some will say it's sad that they're dead stuck in that train.
I kinda really like these types of movies. Where they leave you with mysterious feelings.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
An intriguing film that tackles an important issue.
The story is told from three perspectives on events in a young boy's life. It is a "simple" film, but precisely because of this raw approach, it creates several moments of tension and suspense. I believe that knowing the film's central theme in advance took away much of the element of surprise for me, which slightly affected my experience. Despite this, it was precisely the theme that made me interested in watching the film.I would like to highlight the children's performances, which are outstanding. Overall, it is a great film with multiple messages about different aspects of life, a good pace, and intriguing moments.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I feel they could have done so much more with a clearer focus. Despite the hype, not impressed.
I wish Minato and Yori appeared more, and would prefer a better ending.--- Vague Spoilers --
Story: Director tries to put in a few themes, bullying, being different, societal conformity, japanese apologising/taking responsibility culture (even if not at fault), gay treatment therapy, felt a bit too many... Kind of drew the focus away from what (imo) should be the main theme, aka loving the same gender.
There is additional screen time given to the teacher and his lover to characterize him as a good teacher and set his character, but we don't see much of him in the Minato and Yori plot. Why do they have to combine the parent-teacher power dynamic and the Minato-Yori-classroom bullying plots into a single story? It feels like both deal with very significant issues that take a lot of emotions and shouldn't be so easily combined. I can see "What happens if they try to make their relationship official in their class, how do they cope and how do they overcome bulyling?" as one story, and "How does the teacher overcome this scapegoating done unto him, and how to deal with what is alleged vs what is actually true?" as another story with the teacher at the focus.
Ending: Giving an ambiguous ending is fine and all, but it left me feeling unfinished, would prefer an epilogue of Minato moving on or the aftermath, aka any change in classmates behaviour? teacher behaviour? Feels like they shown a spotlight on all the dark issues in the Japanese classroom and society and said "Ok, go think about it" and then left us with it.
Actors: Hinata acted so well as Yori the bumbling silly kid, a lighthearted facade with some dark thoughts, but I wished the characters could have been written with more emotional support -- like they're struggling but how do they come to terms with it. Minato's avoidance is only one part of the "gay panic", what about denial/ trying to like girls, what about acceptance, what about coming out?
--- Spoilers end --
I just feel they could have done so much more with it, and despite all the hype, not impressed. I think they could have done better with a clearer focus rather than so many themes, that only get brought up briefly but are never addressed (characters don't tackle or try to solve).
Was this review helpful to you?
assistir esse filme pela primeira vez é realmente uma experiência. você começa hipnotizado pela cinematografia, então, aos poucos a crítica é construída e vai de pouquinho em pouquinho explodindo a sua cabeça. é uma daquelas experiências em que o cinema deixa de ser só narrativa e se transforma em sensação.
“who’s the monster?”
as crianças não nascem com medo de quem são. elas aprendem a ter medo – do sentimento, do que pensam, do que amam. aprendem a se moldar pra caber em expectativas. então, acreditam que o erro está nelas, mas, o verdadeiro monstro está no olhar de quem provoca o medo.
que o mundo deixe de ser um lugar onde é mais fácil moldar uma criança ao medo do que abraçar sua verdade. ser lgbt não é algo a se envergonhar.
Was this review helpful to you?
