loveLIFE, liveLIFE ;)

[Confessions]
Wednesday, December 01, 2010

My first blogpost in years (since it has been more than one year) and I decided to dedicate this post to [Confessions], a movie I just watched not long ago, and can easily be one of the best few films I have watched in recent years o.O

Warning: Long post. As always.

This movie got me thinking longer than [Inception] got me thinking. I'm not trying to say that it's better than inception; they are both great movies in a different way from one another. One is a sci-fi heist which speaks of a greater philosophical idea, but other than the unexpected technological creativity involved (afterall, it's sci-fi) the plot, I would say, is not that surprising? Confessions, on the other hand, may seem much more down-to-earth, yet at the same time out of mind, with its unexpected and plotful twists. However, it was more thought provoking simply because we could relate better to it since it magnifies many present social issues, whether they are global or japan-specific (since it's a Japanese film in all sense).

I'm rather lazy to dissect the issues one by one, but I guess I'll identify what I could catch (go watch the movie and find out for yourself!). Through what happens to different people in the story as well as what they do, it brings out Japanese social issues such as school bullying, loopholes in their juvenile legal system; and at bigger scales :

over emphasis of sex and violence in the mass media,

the internet as a means of proliferation for violence and spreading of wrong/ warped ideologies, youth ennui, eugenics (very brief)

consequences (though rather extreme, but conceivable) of different kind of motherhood (over-protective type, negligent type),

how things cannot be undone and one has to bear its consequences

and more importantly, the equality in the value of life.

* The protagonist's husband got HIV from 'overseas', some racism here, indicating promiscuity of caucasians, okay but maybe I'm thinking too much...

**The use of HIV here was weak, and random at best in my opinion, though it does serve in bringing across the point of valuing life, as well as propagating the complex plot.

As the plot is unveiled slowly, character by character, event by event, at an appropriate pace such that I was constantly being drawn into the story, feeling slightly like one of the innocent student by the side, looking at what what going on. Whenever someone died, the motion gets slowed down and the music turns into a very calming, hopeful kind, painting a very surreal and relaxed picture in my mind; contrasting vastly with what was happening. This however, made it very clear to me that I was watching a movie. Though I personally don't like that, I still thought it was an very interesting anti-climax to the bomb on the audience.

The style of the movie was also very strikingly japanese, much use of dialogues and full view of the scene with ZERO close-ups as much as I can remember. Along with the kind of colour used (blue, grey. . didn't really see my favourite orange) made me feel very distant, which added on to the creepiness of the show, aside those from the slight gore. Another interesting thing I found, was the use of "Pop, you just lost something important" something along this line, which together with the cutting of the background music, made my heart stop one beat, and felt slightly deprived of hope.

Coming to a conclusion, it was a great attempt at creating film highlighting to us many issues at a time (risky, yet properly done - perhaps the book it was adapted from was well written), through the detailed diving into the psychology and thought processes of the characters. Though like many movies, it commits to the belief that unnoticeable and seemibgly unimportant events can lead to highly improbable and warped twists in reality; but believe it or not, every drip of harsh reality reflected in this movie is capable of manifesting itself in your or-so-you-thought mundane and secure daily lives. I would definitely recommend this show to everyone (less those who are lazy to think, or has an overly weak heart).

*sorry, my thoughts are quite messy I know, the movie messed up my mind abit

I had wanted to try blogging in Chinese, but I confess that the standard of my mandarin isn't where it used to be already, and hence i gave up on that idea. Maybe some other time. No pun intended anyway ;p