From what I can gather in his previous work, usually this was done towards the comic and whimsical. His nights glowed blue; his daylight was forever kissed by golden rays and blessed with pink-laced clouds; and a quiet moment can be crushed by a pulsating hip-hop beat. Kokuhaku, based off a best-selling book that I've seen at least one copy of in every one of my classrooms in Japan, does away with the bright cheery colors. Everything gets thrown in a bleach by-pass, nearly monochrome world save for the blue that washes every frame. Nakashima is throwing out the pastels and putting on the beret for this one.

Ms. Moriguchi is a teacher on the way out. She's called it quits and not without good reason. As her class goes to chaos, chattering and texting on their cell phones, she starts a mechanical, exactingly rehearsed farewell speech about her numerous reasons for leaving.

First, it turns out that she was infected with HIV by the old teacher. She knew that for a while now and has come to terms with it, however. What's really made her put her foot down is the death of her three-year-old daughter. A skillful investigation of what happened has led her to conclude that the death was not an accident as the police concluded, but rather the work of two of her students. Juvenile law in Japan is as softball as they come, but Moriguchi then reveals that she has spiked the two miniature murderers' milk with her HIV-infected blood. DUN DUN DUN.

These opening scenes reflect the rest of the movie. Betraying its roots as a best-selling novel, Kokuhaku is driven mostly by the narration of six people involved in the incident and it's aftermath. While the trailer seems intent as playing this off as a whodunnit with a Battle Royale paint job, it simply isn't. The identity of the two killers is made clear and it focuses far more on the fall-out that comes from Moriguchi's revenge plot.

As we go from narrator to narrator, we get different pieces of the puzzle and more to do with the reasons for these children's respective falls into despair and how they deal with their troubles. As someone who has worked with troubled children in some of the middle schools I've been to, these scenes have a painful ring of truth to them. Kids throwing baseballs at each others faces in group bullying; the quiet nihilism and undeserved ego of teenagers; and girls who hang out with the bad boy against their better judgment. All powered by the perpetual lonliness of adolescence.

Throughout, I was reminded of two other films that deal with teen violence and uncertainty - Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale and Gus Van Sant's Elephant. Especially with the frequently recurring image of clouds rolling indifferently over our lives, Nakashima seems to be evoking a dream-like meditation on the pettiness of human life that Van Sant did. Similarly, in dealing with child-on-child violence as a medium of social criticism it reminded of Fakasaku's similar look at teenage alienation.

However, those directors knew that keeping the film grounded in a reality, however tenuous, is the key to producing a strong emotional impact. In constrast, Nakashima's instinct to beautify even the grotesque makes for a smaller impact. The slow motion that accompanies virtually every beat-down and the plumbs of blood that spurt out of every murder ultimately distracted me. It becomes too over the top and became aware of the artifice. The end result looks more appropriate for the manga rack at my local 7-11.

Even so, it is quite a spectacle and the visuals do maintain a hypnotic power. Nakashima has an artist's eye for composition. His frames are full of negative space, increasing tension even in a bland conversation. Likewise, his habit of mixing musical styles - children's songs, moody synths and even a surprise showing by Radiohead - create this paradoxical sense of modern nostalgia that recalls John Hughes of all things.

In the end, I'm of two minds on Kokuhaku. On one hand, it stands well short of greatness. Yet, on the other, it is a beautifully crafted film. It won't be surprising to see this film get a few more fans as it starts pulsing through the film festival and art house circuit over the next few months and definitely worth a watch on the hypnotic visuals alone. Just don't expect to be confessing your love for this thing a year from now.

Final Grade: B
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima
Release Date: June 5, 2010 (Japan)
Watch Trailer Here