Reception of this film might suffer from misdirected expectations. This is not a film with abundant graphic violence. Fortunately it is not like Miike's Lesson of the Evil - and I am happy for that. This is more like Solomon's Perjury by Izuru Narushima, but less long-winded. Confessions is a psychological revenge thriller.
Last day before spring break in a school somewhere in Japan. A young teacher tells her class that she won't return after the break. She also tells class her story about her murdered daughter and that the murderers are in the classroom. Her revenge is that she has infected the school milk of the culprits with the HIV virus.
Naoki (Kaoru Fujiwara) is shattered. He isolates himself. When his moither finds out that her beloved son actually killed a human being, she attempts a murder suicide.
Shuya (Yukito Nishii) is suffering from a mother complex. His mother abandoned him to pursue her career as a scientist. When Shuya sees that one of his inventions is in the media overshadowed by a family murder, he changes career and wants to become a criminal master mind to get his mother's attention.It seems that this class has a more than usual share of wannabee Raskolnikovs, as Mizuki (Yukito Nishii), a girl from the same class has killing fantasies.
In the end we see that condemning the boys to a life in hell is the most efficient revenge.
This is a loveless world, no compassion, only lust and greed. There is a lot of competition to become the best, even if the 15 minutes of fame include blowing up oneself and the whole school.
Those schoolkids still have to learn the value of life (命). This kanji is used in the film. The dictionary informs me that this character also means fate or destiny.
The plot is captivating as we continually get more information on the characters and their actions. In the middle, however, I was almost losing interest, as I thought that everything already had been told. However, it still continued to surprise me.
There are some annoying things in this film: there is an almost continuous soundtrack going on. Sometimes known pieces, sometimes soft supermarket music. This really got on my nerves. For me this would have probably worked better with different and less background noise. Nakashima also overuses certain gimmicks, like slow motion. It does not always serve a purpose. Or reflections in convex mirrors. - On the other hand the young actors are amazing, displaying a wide range of emotions.
6/10
Last day before spring break in a school somewhere in Japan. A young teacher tells her class that she won't return after the break. She also tells class her story about her murdered daughter and that the murderers are in the classroom. Her revenge is that she has infected the school milk of the culprits with the HIV virus.
Naoki (Kaoru Fujiwara) is shattered. He isolates himself. When his moither finds out that her beloved son actually killed a human being, she attempts a murder suicide.
Shuya (Yukito Nishii) is suffering from a mother complex. His mother abandoned him to pursue her career as a scientist. When Shuya sees that one of his inventions is in the media overshadowed by a family murder, he changes career and wants to become a criminal master mind to get his mother's attention.It seems that this class has a more than usual share of wannabee Raskolnikovs, as Mizuki (Yukito Nishii), a girl from the same class has killing fantasies.
In the end we see that condemning the boys to a life in hell is the most efficient revenge.
This is a loveless world, no compassion, only lust and greed. There is a lot of competition to become the best, even if the 15 minutes of fame include blowing up oneself and the whole school.
Those schoolkids still have to learn the value of life (命). This kanji is used in the film. The dictionary informs me that this character also means fate or destiny.
The plot is captivating as we continually get more information on the characters and their actions. In the middle, however, I was almost losing interest, as I thought that everything already had been told. However, it still continued to surprise me.
There are some annoying things in this film: there is an almost continuous soundtrack going on. Sometimes known pieces, sometimes soft supermarket music. This really got on my nerves. For me this would have probably worked better with different and less background noise. Nakashima also overuses certain gimmicks, like slow motion. It does not always serve a purpose. Or reflections in convex mirrors. - On the other hand the young actors are amazing, displaying a wide range of emotions.
6/10
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