'I needed to depict a queer relationship head-on': Hirokazu Kore-eda on directing 'Monster'

Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda discusses his hit LGBTQ film 'Monster,' which addresses bullying and LGBTQ issues and has become the most-watched non-animation Japanese film of all time in Korea.

A scene from Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's drama film ″Monster,″ about two young boys who try to navigate their way around school bullying and form a close bond [NEXT ENTERTAINMENT WORLD]

Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda believes that most of us live by thinking of certain things as “normal” and “usual” while labeling anything other than that as something akin to a monster. That's why he shot his latest film, and why he titled it “Monster" (2023).

“It is easy to deem things monstrous and unordinary because they don’t fit inside the concept of what is usually accepted,” Kore-eda said during a group interview with Korean reporters Monday.

“In my film ‘Monster,’ the parents and teachers easily say things like ‘normal,’ ‘happiness,’ ‘being manly’ and other words that force the children in the story to behave a certain way. Don’t we all do that? Don’t we all look for a frame to fit what is acceptable into and then look for the monsters outside of that?”

“Monster,” which opened in Korea on Nov. 29 of last year, surpassed 500,000 viewers over the weekend and became the most-watched non-animation Japanese film of all time. The film surrounds the story of two boys, Minato and Yori, their families and their teacher Michitoshi Hori. When Minato’s mother observes increasingly disturbing behavior from her son, she demands Hori and the school find out what is wrong. It is revealed that Minato was trying to defend Yori from bullying, and the two form a close bond.

Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda [NEXT ENTERTAINMENT WORLD]

“Monster” was able to address socially current issues such as school bullying and the fall of educational authority through the genius of screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto, Kore-eda claimed.

“I have heard that school bullying and the loss of teachers’ authority have become big social issues here in Korea and also in other countries, and I think the screenwriter Sakamoto read the pressing issues of our times early on when he wrote the script for ‘Monster,’” said Kore-eda. “We started this project in 2018, before the Covid-19 pandemic, and it was before we could ever imagine that such a social divide as we are experiencing now could happen. I think Sakamoto is a great artist.”

The relationship between Minato and Yori in “Monster” has a romantic element to it, and viewers have thus hailed the film as an LGBTQ or queer drama by viewers. Kore-eda had this element in mind when directing the young actors who played Minato and Yori.

A scene from ″Monster″ [NEXT ENTERTAINMENT WORLD]

“When I read the plot for this film, I felt that I needed to depict the queer relationship between the characters head-on,” said Kore-eda. “I started by having the staff of the film study the subject, and I, myself, also put in a lot of effort to pay attention to detail and be sensitive to many considerations.

“Usually, when I direct young actors, I don’t let the actors read the entire script and direct them so that the characters and the actors fuse each of their unique qualities,” Kore-eda continued. “But in ‘Monster,’ I thought that kind of directing would be wrong. So we had the actors, Soya Kurokawa and Hinata Hiiragi, receive lessons on LGBTQ [identity] and had them read the script in entirety and also had an intimacy coordinator on set.”

The ending scene of “Monster,” in which Minato and Yori run toward the horizon after a rainstorm during which the two are deemed missing by their families and the school, was made with much care and embedded meaning, Kore-eda said.

Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda on the set of ″Monster″ [NEXT ENTERTAINMENT WORLD]

“When we were filming that ending scene, I told Kurokawa and Hiiragi to just be joyful, to rapture in the fact that their characters are okay just as they are,” said Kore-eda. “We had the song ‘Aqua’ from the score, composed by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, over the ending scene, and it fit perfectly. The song itself was made when the composer’s daughter was born with a sense of rejoice, so that meaning was also appropriate for the scene.”

“Monster” is Kore-eda’s first film since the 1995 film “Maborosi” that the Kore-eda did not write himself. Now, with 14 films written, directed and edited, the director feels that the stories that he can tell have become similar to each other.

“I couldn’t have written something like the script of ‘Monster,’ and I think it’s time that I worked with other creators in making films,” said Kore-eda. “I don’t know how much longer I will be able to make films, but I always want to work with actors and artists from Korea and other Asian countries. I hope audiences keep watching my films and that I can come back to Korea.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]