rbrown498

I just heard about this film a few days ago, and it piqued my interest enough to go searching for it. It has apparently not been released on either DVD or Blu-ray in North America yet, but I found a seller in Hong Kong that ships to the US, so it's on its way to me now.

Here's its IMDB page:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590089/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

And here's its trailer from YouTube:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/F73eXXiMwB4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As I impatiently await its arrival, has anyone seen it and cares to give an opinion on it? No spoilers, please!

Cardiac161

I've seen it (got the HK Blu ray version fm DDDHouse which has been available for quite some time). The synopsis is about a teacher who, after her daughter is murdered, knows the murderers are amongst the class that she is teaching. Movie is very bleak and nihilistic, and the film dwells into all the students in the room, Rashomon-style.

I found the film fantastically directed and paced, and with ugly truth of apathy as the subject matter, it is probably one of the most thought-provoking and brutal Japanese contemporary movies in recent years.

manicsounds

Yes. The region B UK Blu-ray from Third Window is excellent. I just saw Nakashima's latest movie, "Kawaki.", which was way more brutal, and stylistically different from "Kokuhaku", more like a Tarantino movie in terms of editing, pacing, mix of styles, and violence.

rbrown498

Thanks, Cardiac! I think that's the same release that I've ordered. And you've made me THAT much more ready for it to get here!

Actually, I was reading a review of KAWAKI, and it mentioned KOKUHAKU...which is what got me to order it.

Thanks for the input from both of you!

eked13

Confessions was my film of the year on release. I love Kamikaze Girls, but this was a completely different beast.

If you have the ability I highly recommend the Third Window release - they arranged the premiere of the film at Glasgow Film Festival (where I was lucky enough to have chosen to give it a go).

Memories of Matsuko is also very worth digging out. Not seen Kawaki yet, but looking forward to finding it.

If you like Confessions, Kiyoshi Kurosawa also made a TV series (Shokuzai) from a book by the same author. I think it's been released over 2 DVDs as 'Penance' - DDDhouse had it in stock quite recently.

sleepyhead55

I've seen it as well. I kinda like the dark and bleak mood and scenery as it fits the story. For some reason, I found it similar to Old Boy.

I also saw Kamikaze Girls and didn't really like that one all too much. But that was just a strange film.

rbrown498

Thanks for all the input, guys. My copy arrived today, and I was able to watch it tonight. I'm still sorting out my feelings about it, as I found it to be a rather overwhelming experience. The look of the film was absolutely dazzling--I may have to take some frame grabs from the disc and use them as wallpapers for my computer. Technically, the film was flawless--the cinematography, editing, and especially the sound design were brilliant.

I see the RASHOMON influence, and if I think hard enough, I see its similarities to OLDBOY, but I guess because of a plot development near the end, I flashed on HEATHERS when I was watching it. The tones of the two films couldn't be more dissimilar, but stylistically I think I see some shared DNA. CONFESSIONS also gave me a bit of a BLUE VELVET vibe, in that I was extremely uncomfortable watching the film, but now that it's over, I want to see it again. In fact, this may be one of those films that pretty much require multiple viewings in order to catch everything that's going on. There were several times while watching it that I had to rewind to catch subtitles that I missed due to focusing on things going on in the frame.

Again, thanks for all the comments. I really, really liked it, and I'll be on the lookout for all of Nakashima's films now.

sleepyhead55

Where did you order it and how much did you pay? I was looking to pick up the Bluray but DDDHouse.com is OOS.

rbrown498

I ordered it from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004SFFQ0W/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

When I ordered it, the price was $10.99 plus $3.99 shipping, but it's lower than that now. I got mine from the second Marketplace seller listed, Far East Flea Market. I was impressed with how quickly it got here, beating Amazon's earliest estimate by 10 days.