Suicide Club

Japan, 2001. The popularity of the newall-girl music group, Desert, electrifies young people all over the country. One day, 54 girls from secondary school commit suicide by throwing themselves in front of a subway train, marking the beginning of a chain of other suicides. Detective Kuroda is assigned to find the answer to this mysterious and escalating youth crisis: does the smash hit pop band have something to do with it? Or is the key to be found in a web site suggested to Kuroda by an anonymous phone-call? Then something happens that no one had counted on ... With an opening sequence that outdoes the blood-shower of Blade, Suicide Club has full shock value, a fast-moving plot and loads of irony. But it can also be seen as a portrait of a Japan in crisis. Director Shion Sono made the film after a friend of his, leaving no explanation, committed suicide. The number of suicides in Japan is increasing, possibly reflecting social problems like unemployment, as well as the loss of identity and social cohesion in its society. But, instead of looking for explanations, Suicide Club explores the senselessness and state of confusion which accompany the act of suicide. CARIN LARSSON

Orig. titel
Jisatsu Circle: Medverkande
Ryo Ishibashi, Masatoshi Nagase, Tamao Satô: Producent
Toshiie Tomida: Manus
Sono Sion: Foto
Kazuto Sato: Musik
Hasegawa Tomoki: Talat språk
Japanese