Tag: plan 75

directed by Chie Hayakawa

I wouldn’t say that I’m an overly sensitive person, but there are certain things and topics that are difficult for me to handle emotionally. One of them are the elderly. The idea of getting old terrifies me, especially since I see how we treat our oldest members of society. That is why I needed some time to finally make myself watch today’s film, because the filmmakers decided to put a spotlight on the problem of ignoring the elderly in an unusual way. We’re invited to Japan, where the government (please, mind the fact it’s a fictional story) creates a program called “Plan 75”. As a response to the problem of the ageing society, each citizen over 75 may sign up for a facilitated euthanasia. This way, the elderly have a chance to finish their life at the chosen time, and the government doesn’t have to support them anymore. It sounds like a perfect plan and it actually works out pretty well until certain people start questioning the morality of this program. When I heard of this film for the first time, I knew I’d love to see it, because it’s an intriguing combination of drama and sci-fi, which is something I personally adore. However, if you’re also scared of getting old, that might be a challenge to watch. The filmmakers present how little people will mean (or they already do) to the world’s authorities and that even the act of dying becomes an idea to create some kind of business. On the one hand, I believe that people should have an option to be euthanised and leave by their own rules, so making this procedure more accessible seems promising. What’s the point of suffering and spending your last moments in pain if you can “finish the game” with dignity? On the other hand, seeing young people literally selling euthanasia to the elderly is incredibly disturbing. Especially, since most of those seniors don’t even want to die – they simply feel useless in this world. Nobody has enough patience to explain new things to them, nobody wants to listen to them or spend time together on any activity. So when everyone treats you like a problem, you don’t want to be one anymore, right? I also believe that this film is about loneliness and what a terrible killer it is to us all. Nothing is worse than being lonely, yet we all end up being alone and we let others suffer on their own. I’m sorry for such a gloomy post, but the film itself isn’t much better, which isn’t its flaw. I’m actually glad it was produced and I encourage you to see it, because perhaps we still have a chance to change something about our reality not to end up considering joining Plan 75 one day. Hopefully.

My rating: 7/10
S.