Representations of Suicide in Japanese Cinema

[eigagogo at free.fr]

An interesting subject for sure! I would add some others movies dealing about
'suicide gore fantasy' such as Kinkiben Video series 'Onna Hara-kiri', Mishima's
Yukoku, and Masumura's Sonezaki Shinju.
About 'suicide by reaction', nihilist anti-heroes having emerged from the 60-70s
could an interesting addition as well (Wakamatsu Productions, Kazuhiko
Hasegawa's movies).
About group suicide, you can also include Shimizu's Ikinai & Jissoji's Yoiyami
semareba.



Selon Edel Quinn <delquinn at gmail.com>:

> Hi there,
>
> My name is Edel. I'm a Masters student at the Huston Film School, in
> National University  of Ireland. I am in the early stages of
> researching my thesis on Representations of Suicide in Japanese
> Cinema. The extent to which suicide is mentioned and depicted in
> Japanese arts has always interested me, especially since,
> statistically speaking, Japan's title of being one of the world's
> 'suicide nations' has only in recent years been warranted.   With this
> in mind I am looking at both contemporary and classical films and
> emphasis will be placed on how representations are made and whether or
> not there are links between cultural depictions and sociological
> trends.This will involve a discussion of traditional forms of
> committing suicide such as seppaku. Also Shinjyuu, the form of suicide
> committed among couples, to forms of familial suicides such as boshi-
> shinjyu along with more contemporary trends amongst young people in
> particular.
>
> I am also considering cross cultural analysis comparing western
> representations of Japanese suicide with Japanese depictions.
>
> However, I am having great difficulty finding resources on my topic.
> Obviously the fact that I am limited to English resources makes
> everything more difficult. I would be most grateful if anyone has
> encountered interesting texts, studies and films that deal with
> suicide in film generally and particularly within the Japanese context.
>
> If anyone has any thoughts, opinions or ideas on how I should go about
> this study they would be most welcome! As I mentioned I'm in the early
> stages of my research so I'm still figuring out what direction to take.
>
> Thanks so much for your time.
>
> Regards, Edel Quinn
>
> delquinn at gmail.com
>
> May I commend Kine Japan organisers and contributors on continually
> insightful discussions!
>
>
>