Japan, 1969. Four bored students in their apartment have been playing games for the past 24 hours and they don't give it much thought when they turn an accidental gas leak into another game. They close the window and the door, make sure not to light cigarettes anymore and the last one to leave the room wins a small pot of money. While sitting in their room they draw parallels to the gassing of the Jews, and that's when the film still is cheery. When an argument arises over why they are playing the game the soul searching begins, what is it that they expect to come from it? What is it that they expect from life? They all have their own reasons for why they are potentially risking their lives in a stupid game, or IS it a stupid game? After everybody else gave up the winner who is convinced that it was more than a game insists that the others admit it as well or else she will strike a match in the still gas-filled room, but is she really capable of going through with her threat? Does refusing to accept the seriousness of the situation save them or will it be their doom? Ironically the ones who gave up first in the competition seem to care least about their lives by not even trying to talk her out of it while the one who figured he plays the game because he's expecting nothing from life so with life being one big long game what else is there than to partake in any competition that comes along, seems to value his life the most and realizes that, game or not, the outcome of the situation depends on his actions.
43 minutes that feel like little more than 10, with enough substance for 90. Existentialism with style, written by Nagisa Ôshima.
43 minutes that feel like little more than 10, with enough substance for 90. Existentialism with style, written by Nagisa Ôshima.