• でっちあげ (Scam)

12/12/25 (Fri)

A Miike Takashi film of 2025. An elementary school teacher is accused by a mother of abusing her son. We first witness a home visit by the teacher, who spouts racist comments about the mixed-blood kid and disparages his classroom behavior in outrageous terms. The mother is incensed and complains to the principal, who insists that the teacher apologize just to get rid of her.

Then, in imitation of Koreeda’s far superior Monster, it replays the event in question from the teacher’s perspective. There is no violence or yelling, just the teacher breaking up a fight caused by the son. The mother then begins to make startling allegations, including claims that the son tried to commit suicide. The teacher’s apology, again forced upon him by the school, only makes things worse, and the case becomes a national scandal. The teacher is fired and harassed in the streets. He even has trouble finding a lawyer to defend him in court.

Eventually he locates an unpretentious lawyer who uncovers many inconsistencies in the woman’s story, resulting in a win. Nevertheless, it is only ten years later that the school board retracts the accusation of corporal punishment, allowing the man to resume his teaching career.

The story was ridiculous from start to finish. No one seems to have taken the obvious step of speaking to the boy himself or other students; the scandal rag writes a highly speculative article that would open it to slander charges; people with evidence in the teacher’s favor, including doctors, refuse to help (why were they not forcibly summoned to court?); and the man is way too passive in fighting a career-destroying accusation. I didn’t believe a word of it. It reflects the all-too-common Japanese habit of writing an ending and making the story fit, regardless of logic or human nature. A waste of time. Not even interesting direction or camerawork. The man’s collapse in the rain was well done, but all else was by the book. Ayano Go was fine as the teacher within the context of the dumb story, others were adequate at best. I’m surprised Miike stooped to this level.