Confessions

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.

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 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.

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.