Suicide Circle
Ok so I decided to watch it thanks to fellow LJ pal The Duck (hey thanks again ^_^). Wow....Well it was really not a good idea to watch at night. This movie really did play with my mind more than most horror movies I have watched. Although I must say asian horror's tend to do that alot (why I love them), this one still has left me wanting answers.
At first it's about a big group of 54 girls who commit suice by jumping in front of a moving train. This is one of the top most classic cult scenes in Japanese cinema (so I read), I have to admit it was a mind blowing scene. It also sets the stage for alot of questions, which is why it draws you into the rest of the film. I was most shocked at how happy the music was in the scene before they kill themselves. I am used to horror movies, so I was expecting there to be some real dramatic music. Yet this movie proves me wrong so many times, you really cannot think ahead when watching it.
While the police are looking at the mysterious case, a young girl music group called 'Dessert' (yeah i'm still trying to work out the reason for the name) is becoming popular with people. At first you look at these teeny -boppers and think 'well wth do they have to do with anything?' it takes you a while to figure out their role. They are (to me anyway) presenting how media affects people in Japan. When paying attention to their songs later on, you catch the hidden meanings.
So this may get you wondering 'so they're behind all of this?' yes I thought so too. Now for some *SPOILERS* you have been warned.
Turns out later on this young girl group may have not been behind it after all. When a group of teens decide to kill themselves just for 'the fun of it', it becomes more complicated. It seems the impact of the 54 girls had started a cult following. That to me seems scary, to others it might seem stupid that everyone would start behaving this way, but is it that unrealistic? I don't really believe it is. For me it seems scary because I can picture the impact something like that would have, and I know first hand how big of an impact media is on our lives. Combined with the scary fact suicide is a big issue in Japan - this makes up one scary horror. The scary part comes from the reality of it, but it's easy to get confused in the film. Later on there is some blond Gackt looking guy who gets his boys to murder people, he claims he is the next 'manson' and takes credit for the suicides. If anyone paid attention enough you will know he had nothing to do with it, that part was really random. I think that was just added in to confuse people, or show the perverse nature of some people.
I have to say i don't get the skin thing yet - why kids collect skin off these teens, and ask if they feel they're 'whole' and do they 'connect with themselves'. Everytime I heard that i kept thinking 'wtf?' but then it did kind of click. I think it's trying to tell us that we don't connect with ourselves, that we have a problem in our society. The fact it's kids through out the movie telling us this I think shows our affect on the younger generation. The fact that they have it right, and we have it wrong, shows that maybe we are not the adults we thought we were.
There really is alot to say about this film, I plan to watch the sequal. I hope there is a third movie like the producer promised.
I shall write moreeee...........tbc