Confessions

CN Entertainment

R3 DVD

Japanese with English subtitles

Confessions is one of the most disturbing films I have ever watched, from any country. It is a story of peer pressure, carefully planned revenge and dark secrets, and it constantly raises the question – how could this happen?

Popular teacher Yuko Moriguchi announces to her rowdy but otherwise normal middle school class that she is leaving the teaching profession. She reminds the children in what appears to be a pep talk that since they are under age they cannot be charged with a crime. They must act with responsibility throughout their lives. Then she drops the bombshell. She is giving up because of the death of her little daughter, who was found dead in the school swimming pool. She reveals that her daughter did not die accidentally but was murdered and the murderers are in this class. She knows who they are but can’t do anything about them. She has laced their last lot of school milk with AIDS-infected blood. The students react with horror. The two murderers give themselves away by their reactions.

Schoolkids, being easily led, turn on the class bully as the most likely murderer. They are right but the way they persecute him is cruel in the extreme. Why did he do it? In a monologue confession he gives his reasons and we see that his childhood has not been easy. There is one thing he wants more than anything – his mother’s respect. His henchman in the murder is a weak, easily led student. In his confession he admits he feels he is a nobody, and he thought that his association with the bully may get him the respect he craves.

One girl does not join in the punishment and she is herself persecuted by the students, who are now becoming vicious. The mob mentality has taken over. Even she has a secret, though.

One of the boys is driven to madness by the pressure. His descent is not helped by an overprotective mother who will blame any one else but has not noticed his problems herself.

The boys are being mercilessly punished more severely than the police could do. If Yuko had planned it she couldn’t have done it better. Or did she plan it this way? Who would know better how children would react than a schoolteacher? Who would know the best way to manipulate them?

Even the parents are not immune to the mounting pressure and many have their own secrets. One by one, through their confessions, we see the results of the murder as it spreads through the school and parents. The end is revealing and explosive.

Director and writer Tetsuya Nakashima appears to know the minds of children very well. They can be easily manipulated and the pack mentality can make them savage to anyone they see as an enemy. He brings this out powerfully in the film but he also brings out the individual reasons for each one behaving as they do. It’s not a nice film but it is compelling.

Reviews appear on the Synergy website with a single cover image. In the digital and print edition, reviews appear with multiple images and with expanded content.

This review will appear in Volume 4 No. 2 of the digital and print edition of Synergy.

We recommend you download the free digital edition (or buy the print edition) to get the most from Synergy. The print and digital editions of Synergy also include a large selection of articles and features not found on the website. If you have a limited download quota you can view the digital edition via the Issuu viewer on the digital edition page.

If you came to this page directly (and missed our menu), click here to go to the front page of Synergy Website or use the following link: http://www.synergy-magazine.com