‘A reason to live instead of a way to die’ … director Chie Hayakawa. “A state-sanctioned solution like Plan 75,” she says, “is far from impossible in a country that is growing ever more intolerant to socially weak people: the elderly, the disabled and the people who have no money.” But Hayakawa has been watching Japanese society for almost a decade and has been increasingly concerned and angry about its direction. I specifically made this film to avoid a programme like this becoming a reality.” The scheme is still a fiction and, as yet, there hasn’t been any real-life, age-related violence in Japan. If this sounds like gothic horror or dystopian sci-fi, Hayakawa begs to differ. “The whole world is watching its success,” he says. The reporter goes smoothly on to discuss the roll-out of the government’s euthanasia scheme. It opens with a radio reporting that a gunman has opened fire in an old people’s care home – the latest in an epidemic of violence targeted at the elderly. Shot in natural light, in the present day, in almost real time and in an almost documentary style, Plan 75 slowly reels audiences in, focusing on the impact the scheme has on a small group of people across society as the horror builds. “It’s something we should think about,” another says equably to her friends, as they enjoy a dish of fruit together after a karaoke session. “My family will be so proud of me,” chirrups one elderly woman in an advert for the scheme.
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