() (also known as ''Suicide Bus'') is a 1998 Japanese comedy drama film directed by debutant Hiroshi Shimizu and starring

Dankan is a Japanese actor, screenplay writer and film director. He appeared in more than 30 films since 1990. Selected filmography Film Television References External links * {{Authority control 1959 births Living people People from Sai ...

and Nanako Okouchi. The film is about a group of bus passengers on a trip in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

who want to commit suicide so that their families will receive their life insurances payouts despite their own financial issues. The film won awards at the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

and at the

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held fro ...

Premise

Mitsuki, a young woman, receives from her uncle a bus ticket for a tour on the island of Okinawa. She joins the group and the trip. However all the other passengers have planned it only in order to kill themselves .

Cast

Production

The film is Shimizu's directorial debut; he had been so far a long-time collaborator of

Takeshi Kitano , also known as in Japan, is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. During hi ...

Themes and influences

This film was found to offer an approach of the sensitive topic of suicide through humor and compassion.

Reception

Peter Bradshaw of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that "Hiroshi Shimizu is a debutant director, a former assistant to Takeshi Kitano, and his Ikinai is an unexpectedly moving essay on the nature of death" and that the film was "A very unsettling picture, arrestingly original, and possessed of a distinctive, seriocomic tone" Derek Elley of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "Neat idea of a dozen Japanese who hire a tour bus with the express purpose of committing communal suicide partly succeeds as a stylized, existential road movie, but an underdeveloped script leaves the viewer with too much time to ponder the story’s loose ends instead of being engrossed in the characters and ambience". '' Time Out'' found the film "fascinating".

Remakes

The film was remade unofficially in India twice: in Telugu as ''

Mee Sreyobhilashi ''Mee Sreyobhilashi'' () is a 2007 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language philosophical fiction, philosophical film directed by V. Eshwar Reddy and starring Rajendra Prasad (actor), Rajendra Prasad, Naresh (actor), Naresh and music composed by ...

'' (2007) and in Kannada as ''

Lift Kodla ''Lift Kodla'' () is a 2010 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film directed by Ashok Kashyap and starring Jaggesh and Komal. It is a remake of the Telugu-language film '' Mee Sreyobhilashi'' (2007), which itself is based on the Japanese film ...

'' (2010).

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0165828 Films set in Okinawa Prefecture Films about buses Films about suicide Japanese black comedy films 1998 directorial debut films