****************************MAJOR SPOILERS*********************************
I first saw SUICIDE CLUB about a year ago, and I REALLY liked it ... Since then, I bought the DVD and I've gotta say it is one of my all-time favorities ... Whether you like it or not, it is undoubtedly a thought-provoking and highly interesting film ...
Attempting to arrange thoughts and get concrete understanding of this film is as unlikely as a simple explanation as to why the kids on the telephone coughed when they spoke ... and I think it is safe to say that there is ALOT left up to interpretation ...
Having said that, there is an obvious onus on connection, and how it relates to the cycle of life : both to yourself, to family, linking generation to generation, etc ... and this presented what could be considered one of many contradictions that exist in life ... In fact, I feel that the film intentionally created these contradictions in part to get the viewer thinking ......
Was the pop group Dessart ( Desert, Desart, Dessrat ? ) in fact encouraging people to kill themselves, or, as I might believe, was the point of the band and the message a plea to love yourself that went awry ???
I might be wrong, but it seems as if director Sono was making a statement about Japanese culture, and the fact that in creating an onslaught of technology for the entire world, Japan has lost it's connection with itself - as seen in the faces on the subway riders, as proven by the endless stream of trends, etc etc .... Society has a connection with the world, yet has lost the connection with themselves ........... I am not certain of Dessart's motives though, because when Mitsuko is in the auditorium in front of the group of children, she is asked about her connection to herself, and if it exists like her "connection to you and me, victim and assailant" ( as spoken by the kid ) ....
There is alot to be read into the scenes and characters that involve different generations .... From example, after Kuroda discovers that the members of his family have all committed suicide, he is asked by the coughing voice "Why can't you feel other people pain as your own" ..... and I believe this is said at this moment because up until that point in the film, the deaths were considered "suicides", and it was not until his family died that the deaths were considered "murders" ( ie a person who suddenly doubts the existance of God when tragedy strikes them, eventhough tragedy happen to others all the time ) ....
I could go on and on about this film .... I would really like to read everyone's thoughts about it as I am still sorting out my understanding .... One of the things I am not sure about is, for example, the suicide of Mitsuko's boyfriend ( the Dessart fanatic who jumped from the building and landed on her ) .... He obviously figured out the "code" on the posters, and he met with the band ... His skin was also found in the roll ... Did everyone who commited suicide ( other than the group of schools kids on the roof, who were apparantly a mimic ) meet with the band / kids ???? ..... Was the skin grafting a way of accurately keeping track of the ratio of people who met with the kids and people who ended up killing themselves ??? ... or, until Mitsuko, did everyone who had skin taken kill themself ??? ..............
One point I got - once you become part of a group, you no longer exist ... and that is one of the great contradictions ( or is it ? ) .... Is it possible to be connected with yourself as an individual ( like Rolly , the blonde Manson wannabe) and to be connected to everyone else ( like following a trend ) .... or, was Rolly in fact disconnected w/ himself because he was just capitalizing on people's weaknesses ??? .... After all, he began was he considered "the Suicide Club" when in fact, it was anything but : a club that kills others and not themselves cannot be considered a "suicide club" .....
I'll stop here because I'm becoming more confused
...
I first saw SUICIDE CLUB about a year ago, and I REALLY liked it ... Since then, I bought the DVD and I've gotta say it is one of my all-time favorities ... Whether you like it or not, it is undoubtedly a thought-provoking and highly interesting film ...
Attempting to arrange thoughts and get concrete understanding of this film is as unlikely as a simple explanation as to why the kids on the telephone coughed when they spoke ... and I think it is safe to say that there is ALOT left up to interpretation ...
Having said that, there is an obvious onus on connection, and how it relates to the cycle of life : both to yourself, to family, linking generation to generation, etc ... and this presented what could be considered one of many contradictions that exist in life ... In fact, I feel that the film intentionally created these contradictions in part to get the viewer thinking ......
Was the pop group Dessart ( Desert, Desart, Dessrat ? ) in fact encouraging people to kill themselves, or, as I might believe, was the point of the band and the message a plea to love yourself that went awry ???
I might be wrong, but it seems as if director Sono was making a statement about Japanese culture, and the fact that in creating an onslaught of technology for the entire world, Japan has lost it's connection with itself - as seen in the faces on the subway riders, as proven by the endless stream of trends, etc etc .... Society has a connection with the world, yet has lost the connection with themselves ........... I am not certain of Dessart's motives though, because when Mitsuko is in the auditorium in front of the group of children, she is asked about her connection to herself, and if it exists like her "connection to you and me, victim and assailant" ( as spoken by the kid ) ....
There is alot to be read into the scenes and characters that involve different generations .... From example, after Kuroda discovers that the members of his family have all committed suicide, he is asked by the coughing voice "Why can't you feel other people pain as your own" ..... and I believe this is said at this moment because up until that point in the film, the deaths were considered "suicides", and it was not until his family died that the deaths were considered "murders" ( ie a person who suddenly doubts the existance of God when tragedy strikes them, eventhough tragedy happen to others all the time ) ....
I could go on and on about this film .... I would really like to read everyone's thoughts about it as I am still sorting out my understanding .... One of the things I am not sure about is, for example, the suicide of Mitsuko's boyfriend ( the Dessart fanatic who jumped from the building and landed on her ) .... He obviously figured out the "code" on the posters, and he met with the band ... His skin was also found in the roll ... Did everyone who commited suicide ( other than the group of schools kids on the roof, who were apparantly a mimic ) meet with the band / kids ???? ..... Was the skin grafting a way of accurately keeping track of the ratio of people who met with the kids and people who ended up killing themselves ??? ... or, until Mitsuko, did everyone who had skin taken kill themself ??? ..............
One point I got - once you become part of a group, you no longer exist ... and that is one of the great contradictions ( or is it ? ) .... Is it possible to be connected with yourself as an individual ( like Rolly , the blonde Manson wannabe) and to be connected to everyone else ( like following a trend ) .... or, was Rolly in fact disconnected w/ himself because he was just capitalizing on people's weaknesses ??? .... After all, he began was he considered "the Suicide Club" when in fact, it was anything but : a club that kills others and not themselves cannot be considered a "suicide club" .....
I'll stop here because I'm becoming more confused
...
