Quem é o monstro? A infamiliaridade no cinema de Hirokazu Koreeda

Abstract

This work investigates the relationship between the concept of the uncanny (Unheimliche), present in Freudian psychoanalysis theory, and narrative studies with focus on the work of Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda. The overall objective of this research is to examine the applicability of the uncanny as an aesthetic effect experienced in the film Monster (2023). The hypothesis is that the film uses a four-act narrative structure originally from the Eastern Asian tradition, known in Japan as kishotenketsu, to produce catalysis through unfamiliarity. The work presents a theoretical framework on the metaphysics of narrative structures, including the four-act structure, and unfamiliarity as in Freud (1919). The works of Fonseca (2019) and Harnercker (2025) support significantly the foundations of an ontology of narratives, as well as the works of Arnavas & Bellini (2023) and Alzhanov et al (2024) give a panoramic view on the kishotenketsu structure. The method of analysis was a poetic analysis of the film's narrative structure, seeking the strategies used to produce aesthetic effects and catharsis. The results of the investigation support that the uncanny as an aesthetic effect can be appreciated in Monster (2023) through the relationships established between the filmic elements present in the narrative, in addition the results point to questions related to the ontology of the four-act structure and the uncanny as a methodological paradigm in queer.