Kokuhaku Film Review

Kokuhaku for me was a modern masterpiece having such an interesting storyline and also having actors who possess such great talents in portraying their own distinct character. People will have an understanding on how a mother loves her child and to what extent she will do in order to protect her child from danger. It is a movie with high aesthetic value due to certain things; it engages the audience to unravel the mysteries of every character, to have a deeper knowledge about that certain happening, to leave the viewer wanting for more. It was a labyrinthine of a story: A mother hungry for vengeance on her daughter’s death. Constantly torturing the two culprits and eventually leaving them helpless due to the murder they have made and now *in the case of Nao* his conscious is continuously hunting him for vengeance. I could say that Ms. Moriguchi achieved her retribution as a mother, and also taught the children a lesson about Life and how it is important to them. I can say that film was a frightful masterpiece and yet a bloody murder. CINEMATOGRAPHY & VISUAL DESIGN

The film was a puzzle to solve. If you missed a scene it will be hard for you to cope up, and understand what is happening. Every scene was taken from different perspectives and angles; hence making the people have distinct point of views on how the murder happened (e.g. Some were struck when they saw that the child was still alive and Nao just threw her in the pool so that she’ll drown, we did not know that he had a different motive for killing the child – which was shown during the 3rd quarter of the film’s timeline). Lighting in the film was quite significant because due to its brightness and darkness the viewers will be rattled to search for certain details that will help them understand the scene (e.g. The “L” tattoo that Mizuki had). Blood: a very important element in the film, it was quite gore-y if you ask me but it just raised the bar of the film, it had the guts to show murder scenes that were *almost* true to life. EDITING

I salute the editing of this specific film. It was indeed edgy having different shots and composing them in such scenes of confusion and in the end the viewers will unravel the mystery that was presented because each perspective is revealed. For me, the slow motion effects of the film helped us magnify to the little details that would help us figure out the cases that were presented. I can personally say that I like the way the film was edited, because being a fan of movies; it was quite distinct just like those videos in Youtube from Wong Fu Productions (e.g. When Five Fell), it was all words not that much dialogues but I personally understood and gave meaning to the short film because of the random things that were presented to show the feelings of the person (e.g. In Kokuhaku: POP! – “It’s the sound of someone disappearing” – Shuuya Watanabe. The pop pertained to a very sad feeling that he felt when he saw his mom stray away from him). Kudos to the editor, it made me believe every part of the film due to its detailed perspectives. SOUND

The sounds and tracks that were used in the film was very hush. It helped the viewers hear the emotion out of the dialogues that every character spoke during the timeline of the film. It helped it raise its versatility as a film PERFORMANCE

I commend every actor’s portrayal of their character. It was believable and there came an extent where the audience will get attached to the character. Shuuya and Nao’s character (for me) was second best but it was very excellent considering that they are still young and to portray such distinct characters that aren’t normally seen in the society. Ms Moriguchi’s character was portrayed with such mystery that made us scared just to see her sneaking around and planning such thing for her vengeance. I believe she had the best portrayal due to her believable acting as a grieving mother hungry for vengeance on the murder of her daughter. SCREENPLAY

The screenplay of this film is very important for you to digest the scenes that are projected in the movie. The narration of the character’s confessions is mainly our key for us to have a further understanding of the story. Minimal dialogues were made due to the long narratives presented by each confession explaining their own perspective about the events that happened during the film. PLOT

It was truly a mind boggling mystery film. Kokuhaku will make you think and listen to the narratives because if you won’t you will get stuck in the twisted perspective of every character. It was complex to the point that I never had watched a film this complicated yet I understood the plot and digested every single detail presented in the movie. Yes, the plot had twists and turns that raised the aesthetic quality of the movie. It is an interesting film; having been based on a Japanese Mystery Novel, the film’s plot gave life to the different characters that were involved. The plot gave the viewers a reason to continue the film and not be bored by the silent dialogues and confessions by the characters. TIME

If it wasn’t for the different perspective if every personality, the film would be much shorter but not that detailed. The 126 minutes of this mystery film was set for us to have a better understanding of the storyline and for us to be left wanting for more.

DIRECTION
The direction of the film was splendid. It was the reason for us to be challenged and for us to be mind boggled by the story. Every element of the film was evaluated *obviously* by the director. I can say that it was not a lackluster film due to its very high capacity for the viewers to solve the mystery by themselves. Every aspect of the film was perfect; every aspect was very fit to the story and scenes that were projected.