Dorkaholics spoke with Yuji Sakamoto, the writer of Monster, the latest film by legendary Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda.
The first question I wanted to ask you was, after watching the film, I felt many emotions. What did you intend for audiences to feel after watching Monster?
Yuji Sakamoto (YS): I always write thinking of one person who might be lonely in mind. So although people view movies together, if I could connect with each person who might be feeling lonely, that would be a great result for me.
I know the film is very dramatic, serious, and very real, but there was one scene that made me laugh out loud. It was when the teachers hid the main teacher in a closet and said, “Stay here, you’re creepy and shifty-eyed.” Was that written into the script, and where did such an outrageous line come from?
YS: That was written in the script. I think when people are really serious, they can often be very funny and hilarious. So I wrote that into the script.
To bring it back to a more serious note, I wanted to ask you about when you are writing a script for a movie, you want to focus on finding that person that might feel lonely and making them feel less lonely, feel represented. The film takes upon three different perspectives. Did you intend to help connect those experiences of parents, teachers, and children?
YS: Yeah, I think as people watch the film, they’re trying to figure out who the monster is. As they continue watching the film toward the end, they will realize that they themselves are the monster because they’ve been trying to make up their minds and have a prejudicial kind of mind without looking at all the facts.
Monster opened in New York on November 22 and opens in Los Angeles and Chicago December 1, with additional releases on December 15 in areas such as San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Dallas, Denver, and Washington D.C.
