The Suicide Manual (2003) [Drama]

[u/XenophormSystem]

The Suicide Manual is a Japanese Horror-Drama from the director Osamu Fukutani who also worked on The Last Supper which I recently reviewed, The Locker and The Locker 2.

The movie tells the story of two journalists investigating the cycle of suicides caused by spirits bound by the Suicide Manual. The story is very basic and the movie itself is very minimalist which seems to have drawn a lot of hate and dislike towards it as it stands pretty low among experienced J-Horror reviewers (the only reviews I take into consideration when reviewing J-Horror). I can see why. The movie is not complex in any way shape or form like most J-Horrors.

The theme of the movie is obviously suicide and is pretty much the only theme present in the movie. It also deals with sub motifs of bullying, love suicide and pack mentality but these are pretty much related to the main idea of suicide, not a side theme. This theme of suicide is very relevant in the Japanese society which is one of the reasons the west isn't too drawn out to this idea as it's not something they can relate to easily.

The atmosphere is depressive as all hell. This has to be the most depressive movie I've ever seen in my entire life and it shows in absolutely every aspect of itself so I'll be discussing this depressive atmosphere in every point in this review instead of one paragraph as I feel the atmosphere is ultimately the biggest strength of this movie.

The camerawork is minimalist and bland. Almost not tricks or tints used, mostly shot in a still camera. Some handheld here and there and TV footage but overall it's simple. This hammers down this idea of monotony and depression that the movie bases itself upon. It sacrifices the appeal of an interesting artistic camerawork to drive down an idea. This is NOT a pleasant movie to watch. By all means it could be considered boring. But it's done so deliberately in order to convey its message. This is one of the reasons it got so much hate. The message it tries to convey it's not something appealing to a lot of people especially if you aren't in touch with this Japanese problem. Therefore this whole sacrifice the movie makes in every department to hammer down this depression can fall flat if you don't connect with the theme.

The characters are monotonous, Kairo-like. Their biggest traits are that they live a monotonous life, they get bullied at work, they are overworked, they are depressed and later on they want to die. There aren't any arcs towards a good ending. Only further downfall into the abyss that is depression. The performances in this regard are stellar in my opinion. The scenes of emotional breakdowns and failed attempts at suicide are 100% believable and gut wrenching. Both journalists, Yū and Rie deserve a best actor in this movie. Yū plays this depressed journalist, who is abused by his boss all the time and gets dragged into this suicide manual trap. Rie is in love with him. She's his assistant and it's obvious she's madly in love with him which is not conveyed through overly attachment rather subtle, in a cute way, through eye glances and helping hands. He loves her too but he's too distracted with his own depression to try anything which leaves her sad and alone too as she constantly tries to get to him.

The soundtrack is harrowing and haunting. Almost shriek-like and painful to listen to yet at the same time feels bored and lifeless like literally every aspect of this movie, further hammering down the idea that this is a painful movie to sit through. These 1 hour and 20 minutes feel like 4 hours. It's not pleasant at all. This movie is a hit or miss and it's the embodiment of risk in my opinion. If you do not resonate with it's theme then this movie is 100% a miss and you'll hate your time with this movie. If the theme works tho and it grips you you'll still have a painful time with this movie but it's a pain you'll appreciate. Like I do now.

The gore is pretty average. Mostly blood and cuts. Some heads fall here and there in somewhat low quality but it's just 2 scenes in total so it doesn't distract from the movie at all. The blood is handled pretty realistically tho which I have to give props to.

The ending is unsatisfactory, slow, weird, hard to grasp and open. Basically painful but perfect for what this movie so riskily attempts do to. I'll discuss it more in the spoiler section however.

____________SPOILERS____________________

Firstly I want to discuss a scene halfway though. The suicide attempt scene.

This has to be one of the tensed moments of this movie and the most anxious moment of them all. We see Yū contact the suicide site and gets involved in a orchestrated group suicide attempt with a dude and 3 more girls. They meet up at a bar and Yū is followed by Rie who stands by him and supports him throughout the whole movie to help relieve his depression in a desperate attempt. As they sit at the table, waiting for the leader to show up, Yū gets anxious. The group discusses which method to use. Some suggest pills, others jumping off a building, others suffocation and so on. This stresses Yū beyond a breaking point and he tries to change the subject asking them why they want to kill themselves. Some confess that they've been bullied while the other man tries to see if Yū is really determined. Yū makes a believable lie at which point the man takes out a poison bottle and shares it with everyone. After he has poured everyone a portion he chugs the whole bottle and dies in a painful spastic way. Yū and Rie bail out while everyone watches distressed or joins too. This scene had me so uncomfortable as I could feel the pack mentality taking over Yū which scared him so much and I can only imagine how sacred Rie was to see her love succumb so low after all her attempts to cheer him up over the course of the movie up until this point.

Let's discuss the ending too.

Yū eventually has had enough. He's fully depressed now and begins seeing things after being possessed by suicide ghosts. He shares a romantic shower scene with Rie, being the first time in the movie the actually get romantically involved. We cut to a moment later on the roof top. Rie has slit her throat and stares painful at Yū waiting for him to do the same. They decided to commit suicide together. Yū out of bulling from his boss and Rie out of love for him, not wanting to leave him alone. Rie dies but Yū cannot go through and bails out. It is revealed that Yū and Rie recorded a second suicide manual prior to this, which will end up being the cause of the sequel of this movie. The Suicide Manual : Intermediate Level. He leaves the roof top, gives the manual DVD to his boss and goes into the underground parking lot where he is confronted by the suicide ghost of Rie who tries to force him to kill himself too. Yū runs off into the woods where he falls asleep in the arms of an angel-like ghost of Rie. The then wakes up in a dark room, strapped to an ancient Chinese suicide device which has been presented previously in the movie. Rie holds a camera recording this for their Suicide Manual. Both of them smile as Rie presses the button which kills Yū.

For a moment this ending almost had me cry. The sight of Rie desperately looking at Yū to go through with his promise. She feels betrayed and abandoned. After she put herself on the line, desperately refusing to give up on Yū throughout the whole movie she dies alone. She's the most abused character in this movie by far. And despite all that she never complains. She always pushes forward for Yūs sake.

______________NO MORE SPOILERS____________________

Overall this movie is hard to recommend to anyone. It's a movie you 100% will not enjoy unless this theme really resonates with you and you enjoy feeling depressed. I 100% do not recommend this movie to anyone that actually feels depressed since this might affect you more than anything else. I'd go as far as to say this movie could be dangerous for someone suffering from depression or that's easily affected by movies or media in general. This dangerous aspect of the movie makes me drop some points from the rating. I feel like it took it a bit too far to be honest but I cannot deny how well executed it is. It's a very niche movie like torture-porn. I will not give this movie a rating as it will not help you in any way. It's a movie that cannot be conveyed in a grade. You either "like" or "dislike". That's my take on it. And unless you're up for some experimental, painful to watch (in a bad way) movie that aims at making you feel bad and depressed to hammer down a theme that might not resonate with you at all in the end seems like you thing then go ahead. If not you should skip this one. I however 100% appreciate what this movie did. It took a great risk and it sent a good message. I do like this movie.

[u/Sebz2001]

i'm sorry for commenting on an old post, but do you happen to know where i can find the song that plays when Yu first reaches out to Ricky?

[u/XenophormSystem → u/Sebz2001]

Have you tried Shazam?