Suicide Club (2002)AKA Jisatsu saakuru
Directed by Sion Sono
Writing credits Sion Sono
Ryo Ishibashi.... Detective Kuroda
Akaji Maro.... Detective Murata
Masatoshi Nagase.... Detective Shibusawa
Saya Hagiwara.... Mitsuko
Hideo Sako.... Detective Hagitani
Something got very lost in translation. "Suicide Club" feels like it was made exclusively for its home audience. Speaking as an American, I am not really sure what in the heck is going on in this movie. Maybe it's better that way. The only thing that has stuck with me is that hypnotic song by the Junior Japanese Spice Girls. "Mail me! Of all my friends, hello from you is the best...Mail me!" Now I understand why the teens killed themselves. This song will drive you mad.
So people start killing themselves. Why they do this is unknown. Some cops get put on the case but it's all to no avail. No one could understand this jumbled movie if they tried. There is a teen pop band that may be causing havoc. Or maybe it's the bleached blonde rock star sending his followers secret messages to end it all. Or possibly it has something to do with a white suitcase full of skin rolls. All of these are possibilities. What the true reason is for the mass suicides will forever be a mystery in the minds of the filmmakers.
Maybe there is more than a cultural gap at work here. Perhaps the Japanese are experiencing a generation gap of massive proportions. The adults in "Suicide Club" are mystified by the teenagers. They don't understand their music, their websites or their dang Suicide Clubs. I'm with them. I don't get it either.
One last thought, one of the main reasons I rented "Suicide Club" was to see the opening scene where 54 schoolgirls jump in front of a moving train.
This scene held promise. It could have set a new standard in gore. Alas, it was not to be. A few blood sprays here and there but nothing to get too shocked over. I was disappointed. *Sigh* Oh well. At least I've got that great song bouncing through my brain..."Mail me! If I don't hear from you soon, I'll die!" AAAAAAHHHH!SCORE: 2 out of 4 schoolgirl splatter
Well to understand this movie, you have to understand Japanese culture. In Japan, everything is more group related, being solo in Japan means you're cast aside. This film I have to say is showing Japan how they blame everything on the media and on like visual kei, western culture, and street fashion and how it is alright to be more of an individual.
ReplyDeleteIf you watch it at 2020 . Everything makes sense
ReplyDeleteThere is an unrated version that does show more gore in the opening suicide, including a head getting crushed by the train. Hello from 2023.
ReplyDeleteHello from the future! Good to know there is a more graphic version out there. As there most often is.
ReplyDeleteLooking back on this review as an older, (wiser, maybe?) man, it reads like I was not ready in any sense for this movie. It was written true at the time. Later I actually visited Japan and this movie resonates a little more now. Very much a cohesive society there where most seemed to follow the rules.
I remember being amazed at a baseball game where these young girls kept running up and down the stairs constantly selling hot dogs and beers. This happened every second of every inning. And at the end someone actually came around with a trash bag to collectively put your garbage in.
Can you imagine Dodger stadium being that polite? Those girls would be yelled at constantly and trash thrown at the garbage bag person. Is there a price for constant conformity in society? Is that what Suicide Club was saying? Maybe I need to rewatch it now.