Review of Suicide Club (2001) by Perrine M — 09 Mar 2009

Suicide Club begins with one of the most shocking scenes I have ever witnessed in a film before. It is set in a Tokyo train station, I believe in Shinjuku, when fifty-four happy, smiling schoolgirls all walk down onto the ramp, they converse until an announcement states the arrival of the next train. They quickly, efficiently and silently step up to the ramp, grasp hands, count to three and jump in front of the train with very gory results.

Thus begins Suicide Club, Sion Sono's master stroke of a film (until he topped himself with Strange Circus) The film works because it asks so many questions, keeps you wondering till the very end, yet leaves you with no answers; the film is not about the plot, but about the questions it poses to you and explores so fearlessly. This is film making at its ballsiest, and its finest.

There is no real point going in depth into the plot and characters, because in the end, they don't really matter. I will say that, after this beginning scene, the films plot centers around an outbreak of suicides all across Japan, detectives are absolutely baffled as to the who or why behind this, but the further the lead detective behind the case digs to uncover the truth, the closer he himself comes to his own answer of the ultimate question, "Are you connected to yourself?".

The film was released seven years ago, but debate on it still rages today. The film has lost none of its shock value, and the questions is asks still echo in your mind long after the end credits have rolled. The acting across the board is fantastic, the blood and gore heavily over the top, and the writing in my opinion nothing but phenomenal. This is a film that not only begs to be watched and analyzed over and over again, but deserves to.