Confessions - Saw In Japanese.

(Takako Matsu in Confessions as a middle school teacher)
 (2010) ★★★★★

It interested me because The Wall Street Journal said it's the Japanese version of 'Saw'. Turned out it's quite true even though I've never been really into Japnease films. It totally swept me off my feet with breaktaking, symoblic shots, excellent editing, great dialogues and score, and of course Takako Matsu's terrific performances. I used to know her as some sort of an OL in TV dramas. Never thought she'd turn into such a scary teacher, a preacher to be precise, a very cool one. I was stunned and speechless.

It starts off with a middle school teacher Yoko Moriguchi's confession in a class, telling that she knows her 4-year-old daughter is murdered by two of her students, say A and B, while the police say it's an accident. So to revenge and teach them a severe lesson, she injects HIV blood into the milk they drink. A is a science geek, talented, calm and taciturn. He longs to be praised and paid attention. B is a dumb, lonely, violent and shy. He wants acceptance by his peers. They decide to team up to do something big to shock the media, to go down in history, and killing their teacher's daughter would be quite a good choice. No need to guess who the murderer is, they both are. Nothing fishy about that. That's what we're told in the beginning of the film. The murder itself is, however, not the focus. We're not here to solve the crime but to learn a lesson about life.

So how? How to let the soulless have their soul back? How to make A and B see the value and importance of other sentient beings' existence; that nothing's independent; that violence and grudges are not the solution to any problem at all? Of course it's not easy. That's why they need a crazy, cold-blooded teacher, using an unconventional method to wake them up and restore their empathy.

Why would you use violence against people? It's because you don't respect their lives. Why so? Because you don't respect yours. It's a kind of dangerous sign when you feel like you start to despise yourself. Meaning your value and faith are falling away. You're no longer mentally healthy. You'd tend to hurt yourself and others, just like A and B. Some may argue how we could give love, care, respect and stuff if we don't have any. I guess it's not that we don't have. It's just that we're too scared and selfish to give. We all want to receive first before giving. Therefore we end up getting nothing at all. No one but ourselves to blame.

The ending is another crucial key that makes 'Confessions' such an astonishing piece of cinema. The last slo-mo sequence of pieces getting back together is simply as mind-blowing as Jigsaw finally getting up and announcing 'game's over' in 'Saw'. Tears on faces, eyes of regrets, pain, sorrow, anguish...no, you can't turn back the time. What's done is done. A lesson has been learned: life's precious, and you've only got this one.