Suicide Club (film)

The film stars Ryō Ishibashi, Masatoshi Nagase, Akaji Maro, Saya Hagiwara, Yoko Kamon, Rolly, Hideo Sako, Kimiko Yo, Mika Kikuchi, So Matsumoto and Takashi Nomura.

Kiyoko is captured by a group led by a man named Genesis, whose hideout is a small subterranean bowling alley, where he resides with four glam-rock cohorts.

As the train pulls out, the ending credits begin, in which Dessert announces their disbandment and offers appreciation for their fans' support, before performing their final song, "Live as You Please".

[6] The film explores the results of this attitude: loneliness, isolation, epidemic of low self-esteem and the trivialization of life, and the psychoses of 21st Century society.

[7][8] Suicide Club gained considerable notoriety in film festivals around the world for its controversial, transgressive subject matter and overall gruesome presentation.

Virginie Sélavy of Electric Sheep Magazine wrote that "Suicide Club has been described as 'muddled' and Sono criticised for not making his satire of pop culture and denunciation of the media clear enough.

[9] Andrew Borntrager from ‘Cinephiles without borders’ calls the movie ‘a surreal cult classic full of existential dread and poignant social commentary’.

He mentions that it is almost impossible to explain the plot, determine the genre of the film or even name the main characters, but overall it adds up to a disturbing yet important cinematic experience.

[8] On a contrary, Justine Peres Smith explains that Suicide Club has ‘thinly veiled leads’, but in ‘a world where characters want to cease their existence’ sticking to their individuality would be counterintuitive.

According to Smith, Sono channels a direct opposite of almost all Western movies — instead of individualism, dictated by capitalism, he shows the desire to be consumed by the void.

"[12] Jisatsu Saakuru: Kanzenban (自殺サークル 完全版, translated as Suicide Circle: The Complete Edition) was written by Sion Sono in April 2002.