Monster – 5

“Bizarre,” was my constant thought as I watched this story unfold three times, a la Norman Conquests or, more fittingly I suppose, Rashomon. What was it about, and why should I care? A boyhood crush? An obsessed mother? A poorly run elementary school? The difficulties of being a school teacher in modern society? Director Kore-eda purposely withheld key information from each version of his story; but I felt he was playing games with the audience rather than accomplishing an artistic goal. There was little payoff, just a lot of questions, many unanswered.