Archive - 7th Five Flavours Film Festival
Confessions
Awards and festivals
Film description
"Ijime" means school bullying, students harassing those who, for some reason, become scape goats. One of the most serious problems of the Japanese society, and the topic of numerous films. Nakashima treats it in his own, striking and sharp way.
A teacher's daughter dies in suspicious circumstances. The mother knows that her students were involved in the accident. She also knows that justice system is fallible, so she decides to punish the kids in her own way – using the ruthlessness of the school community, the mechanisms of bias, fear, and guilt.
An intelligent psychological thriller, this time without the visual fireworks known from the Nakashima’s earlier works. The precisely constructed script is dressed in stylish, cold colors and a minimalist composition. Music is the striking element - the soundtrack includes songs by Radiohead and Boris, which reinforce the tense atmosphere excellently. Balancing between melancholy, desperation and cruelty, "Confessions" can already be placed among the classics of world cinema, beside "Battle Royale" or Park Chan-wook’s "Lady Vengeance".
Jagoda Murczyńska
Tetsuya Nakashima
Born in 1959 in Fukuoka. He received numerous awards for his music videos, commercials, and series. Director and screenwriter. After the success of "Kamikaze Girls" and "Memories of Matsuko", he was proclaimed as one of the most original and influential Japanese filmmakers.
1997 Beztroskie lato / Natsu jikan no otonatachi / Happy-Go-Lucky
1988 Beautiful Sunday
2004 Kamikaze Girls / Shimotsuma monogatari / Kamikaze Girls
2004 Żywot Matsuko / Kiraware Matsuko no isshō / Memories of Matsuko
2008 Pako i magiczna księga / Pako to mahō no ehon / Paco and the Magic Book
2010 Wyznania / Kokuhaku / Confessions