MovieChat Forums > Jisatsu sâkuru (2021) Discussion > The worst film I've ever watched.

The worst film I've ever watched.

posted 17 years ago by Mujah
74 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie years ago, long before it was being sold in Hot Topic (I was still in high school). At the time, me and my best friend had never, ever had an argument yet on a matter of difference of opinion. Discussing this movie, we got to the point where we were shouting at each other in the middle of the street.
He thought that it was a beautiful, amazing, wise movie that was parodying the extremity of trendiness nowadays and how ridiculous it gets, while at the same time showing that life was indeed worth living, as symbolized by the one girl choosing life over death in the end.
I thought it was banal and disgusting, and was, for first and only time, infuriated by the movie. I understood the concept and what he was saying, but I thought it was being handled far too lightly and jokingly, and that the anti-suicide message was far, far, far too small in comparison to the minimalization of the impact of suicide throughout the rest of the movie.
This wouldn't have been nearly as much of an issue if he wasn't planning on showing this to one of our more depressed and occasionally suicidal friends. She was a good friend of both of ours, and while he thought that it would help her, I thought it could severely damage her in the state she was in.

Putting the infuriating fashion in which the movie jokingly handles an extremely serious topic aside, I'm not even worried about the movie because of its brash immaturity and insensitivity to the subject matter. I can ignore that, it doesn't affect me.
I'm more worried about the unstable people who will watch it and not be intelligent/sensible/stable enough to extract the anti-suicide message out from under the convoluted mess of what can VERY easily be interpreted as "suicide is funny and no big deal!"
It's dangerous, and disgusting, and the director's use of borderline-*guro* style to convey what he believes to be a very important message is a sign of immense irresponsibility and immaturity. I simply cannot approach this film with anything other than disgust.

It's because of this that I consider this to be the worst movie I've ever seen. It's not a matter of the skill or quality of the filmmaking methods, but a matter of the message and the execution of its intended purpose.
I simply can't get my head around the concept that people consider this to be a good movie by overlooking all of the negative aspects because of the "redeeming" ending.

That's the main point, but before ending this, I need to point out: I'm not a straight-edge, stuck-up kind of guy. Hell, I know what "guro" is. I was a fan of Troma films for a long time (and still kind of am). I love horror, especially gory horror. I like movies with social commentary, and actually enjoyed Battle Royale quite a bit, despite its occasionally pretentious and cheesy execution. I even own the book.
I'm a casual fan of Takashi Miike, and was very excited to hear that him and Gaspar Noe were toying with the idea of making a movie together. I love disturbing films, and am always actively searching for more.
So please, don't discount my negative view of Suicide Club to be because I can't handle it, or because I don't get it. I get it. I just think it was stupid and incredibly irresponsible film conceived by a very immature and pretentious individual.

Alright. Let loose the dogs of war.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] srinath_r_htanirs 12 years ago

The Worst Post I've ever seen.

Let that statement be overly dramatized. Still not as much as your claim is.

Unless that is the only movies you watched are the likes of 2001 A Space Odysseys and Rashomons.

You just thought his was another horror, gore, disturbing movie is it? I gotcha? Why did you have a prejudice while going to watch a movie? Can't you open your mind and appreciate art. Atleast not expect a movie to be a particular way?(Coz if it is not, even if it is good, you won't be satisfied) Or is it way beyond your capability to understand that this is a lot more than your average gore, slasher movie.

You say you get it. Tell us what you get, and then we'll discuss about how good the movie is. You think this movie is about suicide? Wow. A toddler would say that. too bad you understand only as much as a toddler. This movie is not about suicides. Neither is it an anti-suicide movie. You do not know what this movie is about. But you say the movie hasn't handled the subject matter. What a load of *beep*.

1) I'd like to discuss on the lines that this movie is a masterpiece
2) Though I wouldn't stretch to that, because it is enough to break your argument by proving this cannot be anyone's worst or anywhere near.
3) Unless his aesthetics is of no use or the only other movies he had watched are the greatest movies ever.

Btw,

I would like to know your favourite movies.

[–] Mujah 9 years ago

You resort to basic insults. You make extensive assumptions about my intelligence and my preferences. Every reply you have made is ugly and condescending.
You think too highly of yourself and don't approach others with respect when disagreeing with them. Your retorts are juvenile.
Despite this, I'll briefly respond to this. Maybe you can come correct after a couple of years to cool down and grow up.

1) It's not, and good luck.
2) It's MY worst. It's still the most irresponsible piece of art I've ever seen. If my opinion doesn't fit within your limits of perception, well... that's your problem. I stand by it.
3) Aesthetics are not the only thing that make a movie, and I make an effort to watch as many movies that could be called "greatest" as I can.
Kurosawa, Bergman, Tarkovsky, Herzog, Kieslowski, Hawkes, Cronenberg, Verhoeven, Kubrick, Chaplin, Welles, Soderbergh... My Criterion Collection collection is nearing 100.

Some of my favorite movies? For a variety of different reasons:

Ikiru
Red Beard
Dersu Uzala
The Three Colors Trilogy
Modern Times
City Lights
Wings of Desire
Shame
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Fountain
Irreversible
Enter the Void
End of Evangelion
Deconstructing Harry
Pi
Brick
The Big Sleep (original)
Night of the Hunter
Nightmare on Elm Street (original)
Hellraiser 1 & 2

My final opinion on Suicide Club: The greater message of the ills of Japanese culture does not forgive the film's casual tone regarding suicide.
Again, it's not that I don't get it, even though you seem to think that if I UNDERSTOOD it, I would LIKE it, which is just as asininely absolute of an opinion as you criticized me for having in one of your other posts.
I hope you've found greater peace since you posted these responses because if these posts are any indication, you were not a nice or considerate person back then.

[–] Kawada_Kira 9 years ago

This wouldn't have been nearly as much of an issue if he wasn't planning on showing this to one of our more depressed and occasionally suicidal friends. She was a good friend of both of ours, and while he thought that it would help her, I thought it could severely damage her in the state she was in.

...

I'm more worried about the unstable people who will watch it and not be intelligent/sensible/stable enough to extract the anti-suicide message out from under the convoluted mess of what can VERY easily be interpreted as "suicide is funny and no big deal!"

Speaking as someone who has had serious depression for a long time and been suicidal at various points in his life, I have to say I disagree. Just because you found the movie difficult to understand doesn't mean no one else could understand it. You think you're smarter than everyone else? Or that everyone else (particularly people with depression) are just like impressionable children who are gonna off themselves because some movie made it look cool or funny, and need to be coddled and protected from it by you, because you know better? Anyway, anyone who's already in a suicidal state doesn't need a movie like Suicide Club to push them over the edge.

Personally I found the movie gross and disturbing in various ways, and confusing in some others, and frankly I didn't like it all that much, but it didn't make me any more depressed or likely to kill myself than I already was. It's a social commentary about Japan's (and arguably the industrialized world's in general) suicide problem, and quite a biting and effective commentary at that. If anything i'd argue this movie would be more likely to turn people away from suicide than to encourage them to do it. It makes you think. It's not exactly an uplifting movie (at least not in my opinion; very dark subject matter after all), but it is a thought-provoking one.

 Sig under construction 

[–] Mujah 9 years ago

I seriously can't believe that people are still responding to this.

I DID understand the movie. I get the satire. I just think it's not done particularly well and could be handled with more nuance and intelligence. As it stands, it's just a shock movie that trivializes suicide for the majority of the film.

I'm a formerly suicidal bipolar 2, so I understand a thing or two about depression. People who are depressed aren't always the most stable or strong-willed people. Not all of them need coddling, but it's a good precaution to take with someone who's having serious emotional difficulties. Ask a professional if this doesn't make sense to you for some reason.

It should also be noted that I wrote this back in high school and the girl I was referring to was a classmate and friend who was going through a particularly difficult time. Considering that I personally knew her and her issues and her strengths and her state of mind and plenty of other factors, yeah, I did think that I had some measure of authority to make that stand.

It doesn't have to be the thing that pushes them over the edge, it just has to be the thing to put them into the wrong mindset at the wrong time when something that's IS capable of pushing them over happens. It's never just one thing, but management of factors is important.

How would I simultaneously find the movie "difficult to understand" and yet think that I'm "smarter than everyone else?" I could flip this script on you so easily. What makes you think that your perspective is the only one that depressed people might have? What makes you think you know enough about me and my situation to tear me down and treat me like my opinion is less valid than yours?

I didn't find the film thought-provoking. It didn't bring any new or nuanced points to the table that made me think. The satire was basic and exploitative and stupid. It's like a script by a 14-year-old whose deepest thought about it was "what if suicide was as trendy as a music fad?" It's shallow.

Tell me what the deep meaning behind the scene where the rock star beats the dog to death while singing. Tell me the biting commentary of a mother staring off while she cuts off her fingers in front of her child. Tell me the brilliance of dozens of schoolgirls jumping in front of a train, their blood splashing over onlookers in slow motion with the sound of schoolchildren singing over it.

You can like what you like, but there are far more effective and intelligent ways to approach suicide than this. You don't get someone to turn away from suicide by telling them that it's stupid or thoughtless, you get their focus onto things that make life worth living. This movie is just irresponsible and not well thought-out.

That being said, the prequel is significantly better. It's more introspective and discusses topics related to depression and suicide more deeply, such as why we alienate and isolate ourselves.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468820/combined

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] 9 years ago

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[–] cooler56 8 years ago

The reply you have given is why this film is brilliant. Suicide is typically treated in a grave, somber fashion in movies. However, in this movie, it is lighthearted and ecstatic.
The director wanted to point out how much people are really just willing to throw their lives away - that if suicide became a social norm, more people would probably consider it to be an option. It is very dark satire, and you took the bait.