Jisatsu saakuru (2002)

Director:

Sion Sono

Writer:

Sion Sono (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Sore de wa minasan, sayonara [Well then, goodbye everybody.]

Plot:

A detective is trying to find the cause of a string of suicides.

Plot Keywords:

Crushed Head | Bizarre | Gore | Surreal | Disturbing

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Ryo Ishibashi	...	Detective Kuroda
Akaji Maro	...	Detective Murata
Masatoshi Nagase	...	Detective Shibusawa
Saya Hagiwara	...	Mitsuko
Hideo Sako	...	Detective Hagitani
Takashi Nomura	...	Security Guard Jiro Suzuki
Tamao Satô	...	Nurse Yoko Kawaguchi
Mai Hosho	...	Nurse Sawada
Yoko Kamon	...	Koomori (The Bat)
Rolly	...	Genesis
Kimiko Yo	...	Kiyomi Kuroda
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tomoe Adachi	...	Dessert
Madoka Arai	...	Genesis' Victim (Girl in the Sack)
Kyoko Baba	...	H.S. Girl on the Roof
Hiromi Eguchi	...	H.S. Girl on the Roof
Saon Fujita	...	Dessert
Yasusuke Hamamoto	...	Genesis' Gang
Seiko Hashimoto	...	H.S. Girl on the Roof
Harina Hata	...	H.S. Girl on the Roof
Taihei Hayashiya	...	Rakugo Storyteller
Asami Hidaka	...	Theatre Troupe
Kanako Hiramatsu	...	Mother Slicing Vegetables
Satomi Hisanaga	...	H.S. Girl on the Roof
Noriko Isami	...	Girl With Sign
Joshua	...	Genesis' Henchman
Takatoshi Kaneko	...	H.S. Boy on the Roof
Ryuji Kasahara
Mika Kikuchi	...	Sakura Kuroda
Toshiyuki Kitami	...	Shinakawa
Tomoka Kumagai	...	Dessert
Mitsuru Kuramoto
Himeno Maeda	...	Boy
Toyotomi Maeda	...	Girl
Hajime Matsumoto	...	Toru Kuroda, His Son
Haruna Matsuoka	...	Theatre Troupe
Nobuyuki Mihara	...	H.S. Boy on the Roof
Chieko Misaka	...	Theatre Troupe
Mika Miyagawa	...	H.S. Girl on the Roof
Maiko Mori	...	Koomori's Sister
Tatsuo Moriyasu	...	Komori's Father
Kei Nagase	...	Genesis' Gang
Nahana	...	H.S. Girl on the Roof
Yuna Natsuo	...	Girl By the Stove
Midori Niie	...	Policewoman
Atsushi Numata	...	Comedian
Yuhei Okabe	...	Son
Taiju Okayasu	...	Police
Takamitsu Okubo	...	Father
Kikuko Sakurai
Miyu Sawada	...	Dessert
Kazumi Sekine	...	Dessert
Noriyoshi Shioya	...	Masa (Mitsuko's Boyfriend)
Suzunosuke
Erika Tajima	...	Policewoman
Kazumi Takahashi	...	Masa's Mother
Kei Tanaka	...	H.S. Boy on the Roof
Kenjiro Tsuda	...	Mita
Masato Tsujioka	...	Genesis' Gang
Katsuhiro Watanabe	...	Comedian
Hisako Yamada	...	Daughter
Hiroko Yashiki	...	Theatre Troupe

Also Known As:

Suicide Club (International: English title) (USA) (festival title)
Suicide Circle (International: English title) (literal title)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing thematic elements, strong violence/grisly images and some language.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Japan:R-15 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | New Zealand:R18 | Singapore:R21 | Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Company:

For Peace Co. Ltd.

Trivia:

The pop group "Dezaato" receives different romanji spellings throughout the movie, probably on purpose. Even though it actually means "Dessert", it's also spelled "Dessart", "Dessret", and "Desert" in the movie.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the students jump to their death on the school roof, you can clearly see crew-members throwing buckets of fake blood at the window.

Quotes:

Radio Announcer: There's mass confusion on the platform. This is unprecedented.

Movie Connections:

References The Shining (1980)

What is your connection to yourself?

I went and saw this movie at the Chicago film fest 2002. I had heard that it was similiar to a K Kurasawa film. The film was introduced by some random festival host who saw the opening train scene and proclaimed it the goriest movie he had ever seen. So, with a gory Kurasawa mindset I watched as this edgy Japanese American Beauty played out. From what I gathered, the movie is about the character's discovery of their place not only in relation to their society, family, and friends; but also to themselves. This search and eventual discovery leads many teens to cut off patches of skin to form a human jigsaw puzzle for detectives and take their own lives. The motives of the films little buddha character seem to be a contradiction, but the act of suicide I guess is the ultimate contradiction so who cares? Suck on that cliche! I did enjoy the irony that pop culture plays in this film. The musical numbers were a treat as well as the well placed bag-o-the-soul which pits one of the films heroines at a crossroads similiar to Wes Bentley's in American Beauty. This film was not a Kurasawa film. If you haven't seen any of his flicks, do so. Rent 'Suicide Club' at the video store. 6/10