Suicide Club/Jisatsu Circle (2002)
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54 high school girls throw themselves in front of a subway train. This appears to be only the beginning of a string of suicides around the country. What the Japanese people will soon find out is everything has gotten a hold of this suicide fad, but can anyone stop it?
Overall: Well I’m not even gonna pretend I fully understood this movie. There are a lot of holes in the plot due to how much is actually taking place. Now I know some people say that only the Westerners & Europeans think there are holes but the Asian people do not. I only buy that idea partially. See, the fact is you have mysterious shots of a teen girl band named “Dessert” who talks of love and pain and they seem to be somewhat connected to the suicides. Then there is this gang led by a transvestite singer who is killing and torturing people. Then we have this police officer dealing with his family and a web surfer named “Bat Girl” who intersplices within a few plots. By the end of the film, you realize the people responsible for the belts of flesh are yet another group not connected to any other. And what connects all that? Not much. And that "not much" are plot holes. What Japanese viewers may understand that Americans and Europeans may not are the reasons behind the suicides. I was quite appalled at what I saw, which was just such a flagrant disregard for one's own life. The kids didn’t think about consequences of suicide and they wanted to do it because everyone else did it. It was like suicide was comparable to buying a CD at a music store: simple action, no consequences. I will buy the idea that as an American, I can’t grasp Japanese culture as well as others and may have problems behind the motives. What I don’t buy is the idea that I see plot holes where none exist. I think the film is fascinating and definitely worth seeing for those who can take it. I think the film is almost longer than it should be, even at 90 minutes. But the film still can’t connect the dots on whether the suicides are mass hysteria, a fad, or murders being covered up. If anything, all 3 seem to be happening at the same time. Basically what I’ve read is that this film is trying to call out to the Japanese people that they are so into helping others and taking care of others, they aren’t there for themselves. They aren’t connected into their own lives so their lives mean nothing. A nice analysis I found was this: "I got a sense that the director was complaining that Japanese culture has very little self-worth, that they have 'lost the connection to themselves', yet remain fully connected to serve the rest of the world. And if this were true, suicide would be easily accomplished, since you have little love or care for yourself. When I discovered this, I realized the movie was not a plea for you to kill yourself, but a demand to love yourself. No wonder it is innocent children behind the plot - children who have yet to be brainwashed by society, and ironically, use the finger of the media to cleanse the adult world - the already brainwashed. Is this a revolution for a new Japan? I wonder." Comparison: Seven meets Permanent Record |
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