Review of Kokuhaku (Confession)

I didn't watch Kokuhaku in a cinema but rather, it was on board a dimly-lit plane using a very small screen. As such, this may have affected the way I felt about the movie since the sound effects and scale of viewing were very different. However, I wouldn't go as far as saying that this had a radical impact on my thoughts about the film because I will be focusing more on the story and acting in this review.

True to the film's title, the movie starts off with a confession by a junior high school teacher Moriguchi Yuko. She announces her resignation and goes into details on what led to this. Initially, her class is rowdy and no one seems to be listening to her monologue. However, as more information is divulged and the students start to realise the seriousness of Moriguchi's tale, they gradually pay attention to what she's saying. No doubt Moriguchi sounds as if she's talking about someone else (her tone is calm and lacks emotion), you can hear the anger and pain in her subdued words as she describes her revenge against the two students who killed her daughter. The final revelation that she did something to the culprits makes them freak out and this marks the beginning of the journey of revenge Moriguchi has embarked on.

Moriguchi leaves the school and the students seem to have forgotten about what she said. However, the lingering impact on the culprits cause a lot of problems as one is constantly being bullied in school while the other refuses to go to school. Along the way, there is more information as to why these two teens resorted to murder. Just when you think that Moriguchi's revenge had ended when she resigned, her final step in completing the process just leaves you gasping at how detailed and comprehensive her revenge is. She doesn't have to kill the culprits directly. What she did was even more damaging than that.

The star of this movie is Matsu Takako. Sometimes, the lead actor/actress may not be the most eye-catching but Matsu really shines in this. She doesn't appear throughout the movie but just the first part of her confession to her class of junior high students is enough to win her lots of accolades. This is especially impressive because the limited amount of screen time makes it even more difficult for her to drive her message across. She doesn't need to resort to hysterics or exaggerated expressions with her subdued acting. This is the first time I've seen something from her and I'm convinced that she has come a long way since her Long Vacation/Love Generation days when she always played goody-two-shoes roles.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have Kimura Yoshino who has to deliver a very intense performance as the mother of one of the culprits. Her role is one who loves her son so much that she believes in him blindly and blames everyone else for her son's eccentric behaviour after Moriguchi's revelation. It really got on my nerves to see how Kimura's character was so obsessed with believing that her son is just an innocent boy victimised although I understood how much she loved her son. If Matsu's acting in this movie is like a stream flowing steadily, Kimura's version is more like rapids surging ahead. Kimura also did very well in this movie but I guess Matsu's confession scene is very hard to beat. Kimura also had some teething problems in the past when she was restricted to nice girls' roles but she's also had lots of exposure in recent years playing very different roles. It's nice to see these actresses moving on to try a variety of roles and open up even more opportunities along the way.

Okada Masaki started to appear in the middle of the movie as the new form teacher after Moriguchi's departure and he really got on my nerves as a passionate and hot blood teacher. I liked him when he was in HanaKimi but I've not really followed his progress since then. I think the hairstyle was what irked me as well. Anyway, you'll sympathise with him as the story goes along because he's always been fighting an uphill battle to get the culprits to blend in with the class. Not knowing what had happened was to his disadvantage after all.

I didn't expect the ending to be in this manner. I was thinking that it might be a conventional conclusion to a controversial story but I'm glad that there was this surprise waiting for me at the end. Nonetheless, I think the way Moriguchi concluded her journey of revenge was something the censors didn't want kids to learn from so that's why it was restricted to cinema-goers of a certain age. Sometimes, revenge doesn't have to be done in a violent manner but I think Moriguchi's method had a greater impact on her daughter's murderers because it totally destroyed them emotionally.

Although I was pretty impressed with the movie's beginning and ending, the central portion was quite slow and draggy. This sort of slowed down the pace and suspense built up by the crucial confession scene so I thought it was a pity. I wouldn't go as far to say that this movie is over-hyped but I must say that it could be better if the central part could move more quickly.

And my ratings for this movie...
Story: 7 out of 10 (The pace could have been adjusted to make things move more quickly but I like the beginning and ending)
Acting: 9 out of 10 (This is for Matsu Takako and Kimura Yoshino)
Theme song: 4 out of 10 (The BGM didn't really leave an impression on me)
Visual effects / Scenery: 6 out of 10 (This was for the final revenge scene on one of the culprits. Other than that, there aren't a lot of visual effects/scenery to speak of)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 3 out of 10 (Not much interaction among the characters so no chemistry to speak of)

Total: 29 out of 50