*Confessions was part of East Winds: A Third Window Film Festival, curated by Third Window Films. This review has been produced for CUEAFS and our partners Cine-Vue
The review is published on iCov here and on Cine-Vue here
Alternative title: Kokuhaku Written and directed by: Tetsuya Nakashima Starring: Takako Matsu, Yukito Nishii and Kaoru Fujiwara
Issues of the violent human nature and the influence of the media on the social order of the world are brilliantly interwoven in the new film by Tetsuya Nakashima, the deep and disturbing psychological thriller “Confessions”. Based on a book by the same title by author Kanae Minato, the film is a series of confessions by different people, struck by the same tragedy – the murder of a child. When the police declares the death of Manami an accident, her mother Yuko Moriguchi (played brilliantly by Takako Matsu) promises not to pursue the two students involved. However, when it is revealed that the death of Manami was a meaningless event to students A and B, whose narcissistic need for attention replaced their guilt with pride, Yuko embarks on a dark revengeful journey in order to punish the murderers and through their suffering to teach them the value of the human life.
“Confessions” does not comment on the deep disturbances of personalities, just states them as inevitable outcomes of the existing social media world. Nakashima seems less interested in exploring the psychological problems of the arrogant violent teenagers and more inclined to discuss Japan's current social state as a tool in the process of abusing the darkest human instincts. From his point of view, the reasons are trite and unimportant, which is why the film does not look at them in particular depth. What is important is the chaos and malaise of today's apathetic and narcissistic youth, where fear is buried under the layers of overprotective parents, loneliness, alienation, abandonment issues and mania for glory, and the poetic notion of the child protection act is a defence mechanism in the face of immoral actions.
Innocence and rationality have no place in this world and there is a high price to pay for naivety, which is represented in the characters of Manami, Mizuho and Student B's mother. These are the beautifully innocent souls unsoiled by the evil darkness of the world and there is no place for them within the existing social order. They are not victims of murder, but the victims of the chain of evil that exists where there are no consequences for wrong deeds. From this point of view, Nakashima still has belief in the goodness of human nature, represented in the scene where a child gives Yuko a small strawberry candy. However, that pure and innocent goodness is caught in a world where there is no mercy and is powerless before the ruthlessness of the chaotic social order.
Perhaps a bit graphic at times, the film is beautifully scripted and unravels the story piece by piece, keeping the audience on its toes. There is a sense of sadness and heaviness that lingers in the haunting soundtrack, which combined with the dark blue colour of the whole film and the contrasting imagery of blood, milk and fire turns into a painful mysterious tale about the value of human life.
“Confessions” is heavily disturbing, revealing the root of serious teenage problems and the dark side of human nature. The film is bold in its dealings with delicate topics such as discrimination and AIDS. The story is set to challenge the audience's morality – somehow the emotionless and cruel teacher Yuko is subconsciously sympathised with, while the culprits A and B are pitied as the victims of the existing social order, not as creators of their own lives. The violence and the idea of bloody cold-hearted revenge are somehow not the focus of the story. The blue-black-silver palette of emotions is what is left after seeing “Confessions”, along with Radiohead's “Last Flowers” lingering in one's head, while a feeling of the wrongfulness of the social order and the challenged morality of the world weigh on the audience's mind.
“Confessions” is violent, serious, depressing, disturbing and emotionally draining. But ultimately hauntingly beautiful, which is a trade mark of Nakashima's films.
