Suicide Club (Suicide Circle)

Title: Suicide Club (Suicide Circle)
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror
Starring: Ryo Ishibashi, Masatoshi Nagase, Mai Hosho
Director: Sion Sono
Language: Japanese

Continuing my day exploring the work of the man I currently consider the 'next Takeshi Miike' comes one of his earlier, and still best known works. Famous for it's opening, where we see a rather disconcerting and blood-laden scene of 54 happy go lucky high school girls, chatting, laughing, and jumping in front of trains. You heard me correctly; within in a few minutes you'll know precisely if you're too squeamish to deal with the contents of this low-budget flick – although the graphic scenes don't take precedence as in most horror films – as it treads its course of exploration of the little discussed subject. Following the police as they dig deeper into the mystery surrounding a suicide of this quantity and the ensuing chaos; copy cat 'clubs' following suit in this dangerous new fad sweeping the teens of city, obscuring the heart of the issue. Mysterious websites and elusive music allude to a darker and more serious matter; a hidden revelation that is causing otherwise mentally healthy citizens from all backgrounds want to end their own lives, and it's all the police can do to uncover it's true cause before it's too late.

Sadly, it simply isn't all that good. There's definitely a big dollop of many of Sono's trademarks, from the use of blood, humour, and the manner the film is presented – the use of timestamps and juxtaposing music for example – but he's come a long way as with this piece he doesn't quite manage to pull it all off. Rather than the comedy acting as a comic relief to lighten a harrowing atmosphere, it's used in the same manner as I would expect of many of the other horror comedies prevalent in Japan, and as such we instead tend to find ourselves waiting for the next splatstick punchline, particularly following such a shocking opening scene that sets the blacker than black comedy atmosphere, which sadly comes all too few and far between. There is a large cast that we never really get to know very well making any attempt to evoke sympathy for their situation fall completely flat, and ultimately our lead protagonist feels like it could have been just about anyone, so long as they succeed in actually getting us to the next plot point.

That said, in terms of content it's nothing if not ambitious. There's an underlying social commentary about this problem that is plaguing Japan; already holding one of the world's highest suicide rates, it's one that I find a fascinating subject ripe for exploration and yet I remain largely oblivious to (outside of the pressures of 'harakiri' that reputedly still exists to some degree); that these 'suicide circles' actually exist, discovering and finding each other online to create a pact that enables the bolstering of confidence for those who wish to end their lives but don't have the courage to go through with it alone. It's a subject I'd be eager to explore independently but information remains scarce outside of their native Japan, and one that this film seems to have little interest in really going into any notable depth with. Everything is of course fictitious, but the idea that a group of young teens can simply jump up and go “you know what would be fun? Lets all go kill ourselves,” whilst humorous, has no semblance of even attempting to explain a realistic possibility for the underlying problem that exists.

The 'mystery' element to the suicides can be simplified to discovering who, how, and why they are occurring; the 'who' is made blindingly obvious in the opening few minutes and borders on the frustrating as nobody else seems to figure it out until the end; the 'how' comes right at the end but largely just feels like semantics by this stage, and the 'why?' Well that I'm still puzzling over. A few cryptic clues get left during the films course, but even after they've tried spelling it out for me I can't piece it all together; it comes across as a poorly explained metaphysical concept that even children can understand and makes everyone want to kill themselves. Which on second thoughts, perhaps it's better than I didn't have more than a vague clue of what they're babbling about, but I still can't shake the nagging feeling they cut the final ten minutes off the film and slapped on some dancing pre-teens in their place, leaving me sitting there questioning whether that was really it. There are moments of genius slipped in all this blind ambition fumbling around in the dark, and this is unquestionably why the film has gained a cult following; die hard Sono fans will have watched this already, but the rest of you can probably find the best bits and save yourself from watching at least 80 minutes of this 90 minute film.

In fact, I've saved you the effort of searching.

Note: There is a little known sequel called "Noriko's Dinner Table" which apparently clears up some of the issues here, but that film will have to wait for another day.

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

So I decided to write up the main 'purpose' or 'cause' presented us by the film. Obviously this is a pretty major spoiler but there are few contextual references that might be lost on a non-western audience. The ultimate question given is “How is your connection to you?” This mindfuck of a grammatically incorrect statement does make a little bit of sense when it's explained a little more; essentially the point being made is that we have a emotional connection to those around us, and their loss affects us in a very real way; when someone dies, those connections between individuals still exist, but in our day to day lives we have a lack of empathy for others (as shown by the man and women who cut or take off their wedding rings), and are so devoid of emotion and focussed on trying to become emotionally involved in people through the internet or on TV (there is a VERY obsessive 'idol' scene in Japan). So the statement is quite literally saying how well do you feel you know and care about the real and tangible relationships in your life?

There are lots of imagery regarding animals; the chicks, the sequence where they 'break out the egg' covered in blood and the numerous animal tattoos; this all alludes to the Shintoist belief in reincarnation, which essentially gives the idea of suicide a new context; that death is really just the beginning of a new life. But this is the bit I have difficulty with; connecting this imagery to the notion of how well you know yourself. The idea is two-fold (or I'm misreading one idea); that we've become desensitised to the plight of others and by killing ourselves are reminding them that they should give a shit about other people, and in turn get reincarnated as a creature with a small brain capacity in the delusional belief that the animals give a shit. Tell that to the Honey Badger. Maybe I'm missing that final link. Maybe I'm over thinking it. Maybe the whole point was that kids think they'll be happier as a bird or a cat, oblivious to the fact they might end up a maggot in the ass of animal with poor rectal hygiene. I just don't get how one comes to the conclusion that because they're not constantly worrying about others that they should kill themselves, how does that solve anything?