Opiniones de usuarios

This little stormer of a movie really takes Asian extreme movies in another direction. A revenge movie that will keep you intrigued and interested till the end. The Far East market has been the home of great originality in the terror & horror film markets, and this is one great highlight in that vein.

The film begins in a school classroom where the teacher tells her pupils that she is leaving, and then begins to tell a long tale revolving round her life and the tragic death that haunts her (her "Confession"). This leads to serious repercussions for some of the pupils. Twists and turns in the story then unfold for the viewer as we are retold further confessions to piece it all together.

A very cerebral movie, the direction masks the revenge story at its heart with a very art-house look and indie soundtrack. A very original film, the acting is exceptional especially from the young school kids. Our lead lady who plays the class teacher is mesmerising as she leads the opening long confession scene. It was a very well delivered scene by her and sets the tone beautifully.

The film begins quite psychological but it then does slide into more graphic detail. Takes you by the hand and leads you down the dark heart at its centre. You don't ever seem to know what to expect.

It's great to have such a fresh original movie. Acting, story and direction are superb. A film I'd highly recommend to all who enjoy dark hearted movies.

Kokuhaku (or Confessions) is a real winner from Japan. Just like the title, the movie is about the Confessions of a group of people. After each confession, a new detail is added into the story until it became a complete story at the end.

I feel empty. Very disturbing. The movie remains dark and cold from the beginning until the end. A great thing in this movie is that you don't know who you should hate. Yes, it's obvious that they have done something terribly wrong, but after each confession, they suddenly became the victim, and then after the movie finished, you ended up feeling the sympathy for every characters.

The acting in this movie is absolutely fabulous. Just look at those eyes of the students. Cold and heartless. I watched it with my mouth wide open. The plot is perfect. I don't know what to complain. There are even some bloody scenes added to it, which make the movie more interesting.

I love it.

CONFESSIONS is one of the most savage, brutal and poignant revenge stories I have ever seen. It doesn't start off all that great, but it by the end I was in awe. The movie begins in a Japanese classroom on the final day of classes before the spring break and the remainder of the movie are the events that follow the fateful day in this classroom.

The point of view switches numerous times throughout to different people affected by the event in the beginning. As the movie progresses you revisit past scenes from different character's perspectives but the scenes are never monotonous because you know much more the second time around. Much like an onion, CONFESSIONS is multi-faceted and there is much to discover and re-discover as each subsequent layer is peeled back.

A beautiful thing about this movie, at least for me, is how wildly my sympathy flip-flopped. Don't take sides too adamantly because as you learn more and more about the characters and events of the movie your sympathy too is bound to jump ship to the point where you're not totally sure who to side with. CONFESSIONS challenges you in this way. Some may find it frustrating but it just added to CONFESSIONS's charm and wit.

Unrelentingly dark, this movie is bound to incite feelings of bleakness and perhaps is not suited to those with a weak heart. The subject matter is heavy, the characters are morally-reprehensible and the feel of the movie is wholly somber – from the greys and dull blues which saturate each and every scene to the melancholy (albeit perfectly-suited) soundtrack which works its way infectiously into your mind and makes the horrific scenes before your eyes resonate deeply.

I will not spiel on for much longer, but in closing; the acting is top-notch; the storytelling is captivating; the cinematography is gorgeous; and the touches of violence and blood are done in taste and to immense effect – never feeling gratuitous.

I have seen many Japanese films but this one takes the cake as one of the best I have ever seen. If what I've said so far sounds convincing enough definitely give this movie a shot because I am rather hard to please and it did not let me down an ounce.

A good review doesn't always have to be long, and there are really just a few words needed to describe this movie. Stunningly beautiful cinography, dark, disturbing, and yet Great! That being said, don't dive into this thing if you plan on watching a good fast revenge flick, because this was mentally challenging. You always have to sit analyzing everything that's happening from beginning to end, and there's really not a lot of breakes.

I had read a few of the reviews here before watching this movie, but I had no idea the movie was going to be like it was, watch it to find out, most definitely worth 2~ hours of your life.

It's the kind of feeling all over again that makes it a delight to relive moments of a film that's just so steeped with brilliance. It's dark and it's disturbing, a psychological thriller to rival some of the best out there, tackling themes of poetic justice and revenge that's coolly served in perfect tones of subversion, grabbing you by the scruff of your neck with its extended hook from the start and lasting some thirty minutes, before things kick into full gear for a chilling, violent ride that's unflinching in its violence, laced with strong characters filled with perverted motivations all round.

Written and directed by Tetsuya Nakashima and based upon the novel by Kanae Minato, the story's extremely hypnotic and sprawls points of views from multiple characters, each weaved intrinsically with one another and all being uncannily hypnotic in its stylish execution. The hook wraps up everything you'd come to expect from a great thriller, and that riveting introductory classroom scene alone is worth the price of an admission ticket many times over, orchestrating its sound contrast design to perfection where it seems a teacher is unable to control her class, and is nonchalantly attempting to do so until a bombshell is dropped to elicit an automatic silence, and fear.

Takako Matsue (of The Hidden Blade and Villon's Wife fame) plays a schoolteacher whose young daughter was murdered by students identified in her class. Rather than challenging the judge's verdict and knowing jolly well that a juvenile is protected by the law against capital punishment, the plan she devices is so devious that it turns the class upside down turning classmates against the guilty, and yet still hitting them where it hurts most, slowly observing and scheming any exploited weaknesses. Probably the best strategy anyone can adopt when dealing with unspeakable evil, and it is this execution of her plan that forms the remainder of the film told from different perspectives in confessional style (hence the title), where a deeper character study gets presented, while smartly fusing social observations about the restlessness of today's misguided teenagers in wanting recognition and being one up against their peers.

Mothers seem to come into play, and the film provokes thought into this aspect of human nature that's so universal. A mother loses her child, another maintains her protective blindness fending provocative charges against her son, while yet another proudly obsesses with wanting the best from her kid that it becomes detrimental to his development. One knows about the power of Mother's Love and the extent they will go to protect their brood, and here the school teacher's severe loss becomes the catalyst for revenge best served cold, while also becoming pawns in a plan best unraveled when you watch the film.

Nakashima's assured direction keeps you glued to every gorgeous frame thanks to its beautiful cinematography and shots that make it picture perfect, supported by an excellent soundtrack to bolster the dark mood created visually, and I just fell in love with the plenty of slow motion used which brings a sense of calming rhythm that betrays the dark undertones that were constantly brewing in the narrative. There doesn't seem to be a wasted frame or scene in the film, each moving the narrative forward in an engaging manner, keeping you guessing what's the next curve ball to be thrown, and silently rooting for justice in whatever form to be meted out, and on the other hand cannot help but to check yourself since they're kids to begin with, albeit guilty ones whom the teacher chooses a punishment that will resonate deeply throughout their lives, which is obviously a very long road ahead.

The predominant cast of teenagers also performed their roles admirably since one can imagine the kind of thought process they have to go through to play characters who are basically mentally unsound for doing what they did, and frankly these aren't things that are far fetched given notable crimes committed by juveniles here too. The violence can be unsettling here for those with weak stomachs, not so much whether there's plenty of gore put on screen, but psychologically when you're made to crawl under the perpetrators' skins seeing things from their viewpoints.

Confessions lives up to every critical acclaim garnered thus far, and I too love this film enough to put it firmly in my shortlist as the best film of the year, where all the technical elements that make up filmmaking gelled perfectly together with excellent performances all round. A movie gorgeously filmed that justifies why I go to the movies. A definite recommendation!

The first 30 minutes was gripping stuff. Though it seemed longer than it was. Those first 30 minutes had everything the rest of the film strives for. As the teacher recounts her horrific tale, the vacant students begin to pay attention. The tonal shifts that follow are so dramatic at times, it's hard to rally connect, with anything or anyone. The teacher delivers her story with such flippancy that it's hard to tell if this is real. Nakashima's style suits the happy-go-lucky type films he's used to, but here the slow motion is gorgeous but intrusive. Representing something so complex as a series of vignettes results in a patchy and grim effort. It builds towards a climax that seems very out of place, due to the distance kept between us and the characters. No doubt a brave and different film, but one where some focused storytelling could have really helped.

Confessions, directed by one of my favorite Japanese directors, Tetsuya Nakashima, is one of the most disturbing and depressing movies I have watched this year. It is a psychological thriller of a grieving teacher turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back the students who were responsible for her daughter's death.

In the story, the major characters make confessions one by one. The more perspectives from which the murder is looked at, the more we know about the characters and their motives, which may remind the audience of A Stranger of Mine. As the story is unfolded, there are several surprising twists. While making confessions and sometimes touching on the subjects they are ashamed of, some characters refuse to accept the truth, tell lies and point the finger of blame at others to salve their conscience.

The director tries to explore the reasons why innocent children become evil teenagers with no conscience. Some seek attention because they are abandoned or physically abused by their parents. Some become vulnerable owing to their overprotective parents. Some feel lonely because they are nerds neglected and bullied by their peers. Some commit suicide or other crimes because they follow suit. Some tragedies are also attributed to the internet which allows people to gossip anonymously, the mass media which places too much emphasis on violence, and the law which exempts teenage murderers from being punished. Thanks to the convincing cast, the characters become lifelike.

The black-grey-and-white setting, which is very different form the flamboyance of Memories of Matsuko, is stifling and depressing. After watching the film, the images of crimson blood, white milk, snow-white sakura, the bleak classroom, the lifeless homes and the dimly lit school hall will linger in one's mind. Apart from these, the gloomy skies in the movie were reminiscent of the ones in Elephant by Gus Van Sant. Despite the ominous dark clouds gathering overheard, every cloud has a silver lining, which symbolizes that the director still believes in the goodness of human nature, despite its dark side. This belief is also reflected in the scene when the female teacher stares at the strawberry given by a kid and another scene in which she says "your new life has begun".

The mesmerizing classical music, spiced with a hypnotizing female voice, not only creates a shocking contrast to the disturbing scenes shot in slow motion, but also adds eeriness to the story. The sound effects are also memorable. When the female teacher puts down the last stroke of the word LIFE on the blackboard, the ear-piercing sound chilled me the bone. When the bubble pops, we feel hopeless.

The film would have been more gripping if the first confession had been shorter and less talky. Besides, the CG images at the end are mediocre. Also, it is a difficult movie for the faint-hearted to sit through.

On the whole, Confessions is a darkly disturbing, visually stunning and thought provoking movie ruthlessly exposing the root of various teenage problems and the dark side of human nature. After watching the movie, I left the cinema with a heavy heart. It conjured up images of several parricides committed by Hong Kong teenagers recently and I pondered on what had happened to our post 90's generation.

This Japanese film is very visual and dramatic. It is deep, arty, over- utilising slow motion, making it unusual but darkly poignant. It looks great, with clever lighting and colouring for effect. The film is too slow paced attempting to add to the emotions, but simply the characters are only surface felt and so much of it is left for the viewer and their perceptions. The complicated plot also gets lost at points so making it all too ambitious and confusing. Genius or trying to hard?

The film is about a teacher, suffering after her daughter has tragically drowned. She is leaving but wants to exact revenge on her class of pupils, as some were involved in her daughters death. There are several flash backs and moments where the lead lady deals with paranoia and dream like sequences. The class also have half of the story, with several pupils losing their control too.

I did enjoy most of the film, although some of it gets lost in subtitled translations, and it has been hailed for its cleverness, but for many its aims will be lost. World Cinema does not appeal to the mass and this arty music video like drama , although excellent in story and theory, leaves much to taste and individual mood. It is rather long, challenging and grim, but it is none the less commendable, individual world cinematography.

I have seen more than 4000 movies and can tell that this one chained my eyes like many others did not, which were supposedly recognized by the World as something important or serious. A very strong story, very high-quality presentation of the story, very beautiful work of the cameraman and director. I rarely say that, but it's sure a masterpiece.

"Confessions" by director Tetsuya Nakashima is an effective socio thriller that won't leave any viewer unaffected. I give it that. But it is also a stone-cold, calculated movie without a heart. Its primitive morality is covered by an artsy fartsy coating which, sadly, makes critics believe that the movie had something profound to tell.

The movie starts with a bang of an opening scene. A teacher tells her class of 7th graders about the value of life. Keeping the same calm tone throughout, she then tells them that her little daughter died; that she got in fact murdered by two students currently attending the class. She elaborates on how the two students will get away with their heinous deed because they are below the age of criminal responsibility. Before leaving, though, she reveals a nasty surprise for them: She has just infected the killers with the HIV virus. The film proceeds with showing from different perspectives what is going on in the kids minds and how the teacher's twisted revenge plan unfolds.

It does so with demonstrative artistic style. Whereas the cold color scheme and the frequent shots of dark clouds may be reasonable gimmicks to create a dark atmosphere, there are also countless slow motion shots that seem to have no purpose other than make the film look artsy. The same goes for the odd choice of music and some scenes that are deliberately out of place, like one where the students almost perform a musical act.

With its artsy style, "Confessions" apparently tries to mimic Chan-Wook Park's revenge trilogy, "Oldboy", "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance", and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance". One could argue that those movies are also somewhat pretentious. But below the surface, their morality is complex. Park's revenge trilogy is about people who are basically good but who heap guilt upon themselves, and the revenge doesn't lead to redemption.

Contrary to that, Nakashima's world is simplistic and strictly divided into good and evil. All the kids in "Confessions" are monsters devoid of empathy. Not just the killers but even their peers, who are obnoxious brats trying to give their teacher as hard as a time as possible. Even when the teacher tells them about the death of her little daughter they don't care. Only the fact that the killers are among them raises their interest, as that seems a welcome opportunity for bullying.

So there is the message of "Confessions". All the kids are monsters, and the most psychopathic of them deserve to die. And then, I guess, the viewer is supposed to leave the theater with a feeling of satisfaction because the revenge unfolded so well. This ugly little package is all that "Confessions" has to offer below its aesthetic surface. I have to admit that the movie impressed me at first. But then I realized just how corrupt it is. I would take revenge movies of the "Death Wish" kind over "Confessions". Because at least those movies weren't as pretentious as this film that blinds the viewer with a shiny artistic surface to make them believe it was art.

By the way: Hey, directors, leave them kids alone! They are alright. This should be obvious, but I've seen comments from people who now believe that Japanese kids really were like this. Quite stupid of those viewers, but also quite a questionable achievement of a movie.

Sometimes I feel like I have to watch a lot of Asian thrillers just to find one that really works. For every 50 or so I watch, there will be only one 20th Century Boys or Confessions. The film works on pretty much every level, though it might be a bit hard to follow for some.

The story starts with a pretty simple event. What you're completely unprepared for is that such a simple act will spiral completely out of control into an incredibly twisted series of events. You see...this is one of those movie that will tell (relatively) the same story from different angles and perspectives. That bit may throw some people off, but I promise it all makes sense if you're paying attention. And you should be paying attention, because watching the whole thing unravel is a hell of a lot of fun.

Every movie has at least a couple drawbacks, however minor. One minor thing that kind of irritated me was the frequent use of slow motion shots. I understand using it to emphasize the importance of a shot, but this is just a little out of hand. Also, I wish some of the alternative tellings of events happened more linearly at some points. In some cases results are shown before the audience has a chance to even follow the story line to what leads to said action. But those are both minor nitpicks, really. On the whole, the movie is just plain excellent.

Despite having already read the book and knowing fully well what was coming, I was still shocked. Confessions is a disturbing film, a morbid film and what happens is mind-blowing. It is disheartening, scary even, to see middle school students who are close to demented, with no heartfelt mercy or sympathy, who can kill freely for baffling reasons. At the same time, the adult characters are just as heartless. The teacher, Yuko Moriguchi (played by Takako Matsu) is intimidating – her only purpose in life after the death of her daughter is revenge; far from the typical adult mentor and role model that we are so used to seeing.

But the reason why I gave a higher rating to the film than the novel was because the director, Testuya Nakashima, did a marvelous job at taking a mediocre book with stagnant flow and transforming it into an intelligently crafted suspenseful film that maintains realism and proper flow. The 'blue' look (most obvious in the classroom scenes) and the ominous, monotonous soundtrack just adds to the film's darkness. Though the initial confession by Ms. Moriguchi is rather long winded, the rest of the film will consistently confuse, startle and even upset audiences. You will see children involved in relentless bullying and even cold-blooded murder – the middle school students' performances are astonishingly convincing. By the end of the film, you may feel cheated at such a disgusting and horrifying ending. You will be astounded and maybe even depressed at mankind's depravity – if that was the intention of both the author and director, they succeeded in playing a cruel joke on us all.

This movie really is amazing and left me awestruck, it really is a frightening beauty with really good cinematography and visual elements for a Japanese movie. The plot unravels slowly while giving away certain hints of what is going on bit by bit and is done really well and is put together piece by piece in a outstanding manner. The students are way more obnoxious in this movie than I would have expected from a Asian middle school but to some degree it was necessary. This film really shows the ugly side of human nature how it's sometimes the weak that bully the people that is weaker than them. It was a little bit difficult to believe students in a Asian middle school would act obnoxious as they did in this movie, although I seen far worse in the US but it wasn't difficult to just go with it or stretched so far it was not believable at all. This has different elements put together in a well crafted manner and the psychological aspects of it is very well done, it may seem like a revenge movie or a movie about grief at first but that is only a part of it. What I really liked is how almost none of the characters is nothing like how they may seem at first. It's like you need to be in their shoes or their point of view in order to understand. If this movie was only about revenge than the film would have been over really quick and wouldn't have been as good and would have lacked the character study it needed, but the emphasis on different characters that were involved makes this movie brilliant with good psychological aspects to it. Hatred leads us to look at a very narrow view of things without looking at the whole picture and this is a part of what the plot to this is about. There is no simple and straightforward character in this which plays a big part in this story. This movie really does fit it's positive reputations and is well deserved of it, this is one of my favorite Japanese movie of 2010 from japan. Don't miss out on this brilliantly crafted movie.

9/10

Confessions has stunning cinematography, amazing actors and a thrilling story. It should have been a great film. And yet when I finished watching it about 30 minutes ago I thought 'Hmmm, watch shall I watch now?'

Two obvious things that I didn't like: 1. If you've ever seen This World of Ours (oretachi no sekai), which was written and directed by then-19 year old Ryo Nakajima, this film seems like a bigger-budget film which simplifies complex problems in order to make the adults feel better.

2. Kind of related to the first one: Battle Royale looked at the issue of young people 'misbehaving' with the underlying assumption that kids have a sense of humanity. In Confessions, however, everybody is essentially mean and cruel (apart from one girl). Having done my secondary education in an inner city school, having had friends that robbed people, burgled, took (and sold) drugs, etc..., I would say from personal experience that Battle Royale is a far more realistic representation of young people than Confessions.

Overall then, the film is quite a superficial story, but given a sense of gravitas thanks to the amazing production values and cinematic techniques. But on closer inspection it's a fake: a silly thriller with nothing to say pretending to be more profound.

To top it off, it was all too predictable. I never throughout the film felt any genuine surprise by the obvious twists and turns.

Just.....wow......so much things going on! Really intense!

1. This movie's start very calm and slow... but don't judge from the start... it's like we telling some stories to our best friend and in the end.... "Confession time" ! 2. Once again i am amazed by the beautiful cinematography of a Japanese movie. The overall concept in this movie is dark and gloomy. So you won't find your favorite bright color like yellow, green, or pink in this movie.. totally gloomy and dark, that's what i think the "plus" side of this movie...

3. The Most important thing is... Learn something positive from this movie, and THREW AWAY all the negative ones...

I really recommended this movie for you to see... so relax, get your snack and drink, and watch this movie..

"Confessions" is about Ms. Moriguchi (Takako Matsu), a young school teacher who plots and executes an elaborate plot to exact revenge on two of her juvenile delinquent students who were responsible for the sad death of her four year old daughter.

This horror story happened in a seemingly "regular" school, where your own children are in right now. How are you to know if there are mentally-unstable schoolmates roaming around plotting the most evil of schemes for the most nebulous reasons? This is the main reason why this film is so unsettling and discomforting.

The film also makes a convincing case against the Juvenile Law of the Penal Code stating that those 14 years old and younger are not liable for their crimes and cannot be punished for them.

The film is highly stylized with liberal use of visual effects and computer imagery. It is also very graphically violent and shirked not from generously splattering blood in its depiction of the various deaths that occur in the film.

The performance of Ms. Takako Matsu in the lead role of Ms. Moriguchi is so quiet and restrained, which makes her seem even more sinister, even as you can completely see where she is coming from. The creepy portrayals of the two troubled boys by young actors Yukito Nishii and Kaoru Fujiwara are very vexing in their realism.

"Confessions" is a different kind of Japanese horror film especially since it has nothing supernatural going on in it. This is one film that is so difficult to watch because you get the feeling that this can happen in real life. It is a film that can make you lose faith in the future of humanity.

Yet, despite it being so dark, so disturbing, so demoralizing and so depraved, Director Tetsuya Nakashima tells the story in a riveting way that you will be mesmerized to follow it all the way to the bitter end.

The director overused sound and image in an attempt to cover up a weak scenario that was interested in being complex.

It's not at all on par with Japanese cinema and seems to be over rated.

South Korean cinema has done much better in this genre.

Maybe if this movie had been made into a cartoon, I would have given it a much higher rating, but not now.

The director overused sound and image in an attempt to cover up a weak scenario that was interested in being complex.

It's not at all on par with Japanese cinema and seems to be over rated.

South Korean cinema has done much better in this genre.

Maybe if this movie had been made into a cartoon, I would have given it a much higher rating, but not now.