I first went to Japan, namely Tokyo, in September 2008, a little under
three months after the Akihabara Massacre - see how I'm using the social media
technique of making it all about me! It made me think that in going to Japan, I
had little to fear in terms of everyday crime, but had more chance of a random
attack from an everyday man whom had snapped. With his debut film, Yusaku
Matsumoto examines the sort of motivations that lead individuals to such
attacks, the pressures people are put under and how they cope in these
scenarios.
Eight years on from the massacre, the lives of seemingly unconnected
individuals are the focus: Misa (Kokoro Shinozaki), a teenage part-time masseuse
and low level idol performing to small groups of middle-aged men, while
avoiding her abusive father at home; the contrasting Rie (Urara Anjo), a
disaffected youth, ignoring her father and his attempts at forming a connection;
and Ken (Kohsuke Suzuki), a quiet part-time delivery worker, partaking in
online studies, while most of his income goes towards his mother's debts.
Based around the Tokyo district of Akihabara, the three main characters
gradually find their lives pressured into situations that they can no longer
face. Misa's well-meaning manager is under pressure for higher takings;
pressure that is put onto Misa. Begrudgingly, he is forced to "hand her
over" to his superior to manage, namely what's in her knickers. Losing her
mother to the Akihabara Massacre eight years previous, she has suffered at the
hands of her abusive father since.
Despite his renewed attempts, Misa is without a father-figure; both her
father and manager having let her down. As such, she finds some connection to
Rie's father - drawn by her resemblance to his daughter with whom he can't
connect - when they meet at her gigs. Rie lacks a mother in her life, and on
discovering her father's attendance at idol performances runs away to the same
scout who has his designs on Misa; no doubt soon to find herself in a similar
situation.
All the while, Ken goes about his daily work, connecting little with
those to whom he delivers packages, as well as his work colleagues. His home
life is no better; his mother running away, leaving debt collectors knocking at
his door and face and about to be kicked-out of his home. Regularly making
pre-recorded threatening calls to companies and the police, his new-found
homelessness will force him to turn them into action.
The "noise" in question is the non-stop world that continues
to force pressure on the lives of the young protagonists, with little
opportunity for relief from their elders. And it is generational differences
that run as a connecting theme throughout the three main story arcs. With her
mother now dead, Misa's father's abuse continued after the massacre, with no
communication left between the pair who live under the same roof. The same goes
for Rie and her father, with the latter having worked long hours and having to
care for his sick father, perhaps leaving Rie the figure of neglect. Ken's
mother sees him has a source of additional income for debts, demanding that he
makes more money than he does, discouraging him from his studies.
A traditionally hierarchical society in Japan, generational differences
and chains of command build on those at the lower ends to the point of breaking,
leaving Misa, Rie and Ken wandering, coiled springs, able to go off at any
moment. Matsumoto builds this tension well throughout towards the film's
finale, which is somewhat sudden and abrupt, but reflects the continuous nature
of these pressures.
But some novice learning aside, such as slips into melodrama, this is
an interesting social comment on the causes of violence: one-way, aggressive
communication, with those at the bottom's voices lost through all the noise.
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