Awards : Jury Choice, 14th Puchon
International Fantastic Film Festival
TV
Taro Award (Best Film), Elan D'or Award
Best
Picture, 53rd Blue Ribbon Awards
Best
Supporting Actress, 53rd Blue Ribbon Awards
Picture
of the Year, 34th Japan Academy Prize
Director
of the Year, 34th Japan Academy Prize
Screenplay
of the Year, 34th Japan Academy Prize
Best
in Film Editing, 34th Japan Academy Prize
Best
Asian Film, 30th Hong Kong Film Awards
Black Dragon Audience Award, 13th Udine Far East Film
My Movies Audience Award, 13th
Udine Far East Film
Best
Picture, 2nd Theater Staff Film Festival
Best
Leading Actress, 2nd Theater Staff Film Festival
Confessions is the second of the three films I have watched on this year's Eiga Sai at Shangri-La Cinemaplex. This film is Japan's official entry to the 83rd Academy Awards, and was shortlisted for Best Foreign Language Film.
Click on this link for the screening schedules of Eiga Sai.
[Spoiler Alert]
Click on this link for the screening schedules of Eiga Sai.
[Spoiler Alert]
Plot
Yuko Moriguchi announces to her class that she’s leaving her job when
the semester ends as she is still struggling to cope with the death of her
4-year old daughter. She goes on to say that before finally leaving, she would
like to talk to them about something important: LIFE. Yuko then confesses that
she believes that her daughter did not die from an accident, but was murdered;
and that the two responsible for her death are among them. She said that she
has no plans of refuting the findings of the police, because even if she does
so, being minors, they are protected by the Juvenile Law of 1947. That means,
they will escape punishment she believes they so deserve. And so, to teach them
a lesson on the importance of life, she confesses to having injected her late
husband’s HIV-contaminated blood in the milk cartons they were asked to drink.
That’s when she finally got the attention of the whole class.
The Movie
The movie is dark with themes of murder, revenge, manipulation and
bullying, made more complicated by the psychological complexes of the
characters. The 30-minute monologue of Yuko Moriguchi carefully laid the
backdrop of the whole story, while the ensuing confessions from four other
characters lend the details to the otherwise cold murder of a young girl. These
confessions bring us closer to each of the victims and criminals, toying with
our emotions of loathing and sympathy.
Feedback
There was never a moment I would like to take a
break from watching. Yuko surely got my sympathy from her daughter’s death, but
I hardly agree with her revenge and manipulation. Students A and B on the other
hand earned my revulsion, but in the end felt pity for them. While they were
represented as cold-blooded murderers and retaliator, there were parts of the
film that show their humane side. These small parts were the ones that mattered
most in making us realize that all these kids are somehow victims of adults caught
up in the modern world of information. It is our actions that influence theirs,
and it is our behavior towards them that form theirs. Truly, this is one of
the films that will be hard to forget.
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