Suicide Club

One of the most contentious films in Japanese cinema. It opens in a metro station: fifty-four schoolgirls line up hand in hand at the edge of the platform and jump in front of an oncoming train. Similar events then begin across the country. The police look for a connection. A clue reaches them: rolls made of human skin are found at the scenes. There is also a website, on which dots appear, and the number of dots matches the number of deaths. The idea is to offer no explanation. The narrative begins like a procedural and does not proceed to a solution; instead a pop group, a company of children and strange questions about identity enter. The film puts the question this way: are you connected to yourself. Sion Sono directed and wrote it. It was low-budget and the effects are deliberately exaggerated. It found an echo outside Japan and brought Sono international recognition. An important example for anyone curious about extreme Japanese cinema and narratives that refuse to explain. Before you watch, know this: the film shows mass suicide directly and graphically, treats the subject as a puzzle, and offers neither solution nor consolation anywhere.