‘Plan 75‘, the feature debut of Japanese filmmaker Chie Hayakawa, which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, is an imperfect and shattering movie, one of those films whose idea and theme will follow viewers long after they have finished watching. The film addresses one of the most acute problems of Japan and many other developed countries – the downward demographic curve caused by the aging of the population, with catastrophic consequences for society and the economy. It is quite remarkable that the film describes this problem in a dystopian setting, but the attention of the script and the director is constantly directed towards the human dimension of the characters and the story.
In the near future or perhaps even in an alternate present, the Japanese government adopts ‘Plan 75’. Anyone over the age of 75 has the right to free assisted suicide. Not only is the program funded by the government, but an unconditional bonus of ¥100,000 is also given to each senior who chooses this path. The elderly – many of whom struggle with the hardships of life, the limitations of age and especially loneliness – are also given psychological assistance. The program is excellently organized and enjoying success. After all, sacrifice is in the Japanese tradition, and what is more noble than shortening one’s life for the benefit of the common good, relieving the state of the burden of maintenance and thus ensuring an easier future for the young today?
Three main characters are followed in three parallel narrative threads, the connection of which takes place towards the end of the film. Himoru is a government official who convinces the elderly to enroll in the program and helps them fill out the necessary forms. Maria is a foreign worker from the Philippines who ends up being employed in the institution where the final stages of euthanasia take place. Michi is a single woman who at 78 years old struggles with life’s hardships, works to support herself and is in danger of being evicted from her home. Enrolling in ‘Plan 75’ is a desperate solution for her, due to economic and social pressure. All of the acting is excellent, but Chieko Baisho‘s as Michi is the most impressive. In fact, this part of the narrative is the most coherent.
The film has undeniable cinematic qualities, including some memorable shots. However, the thematic is even stronger than the artistic achievement. It is a very Japanese film in atmosphere, characters, style of interpretation, but the problems it raises are universal. The Western conception that life is more valuable than anything else is being questioned. What is the scale of values of a society that prefers shortening – even in comfortable conditions – the lives of the elderly instead of easing them through care in their final years? How are elderly people dealing with loneliness? How ‘humane’ is assisted suicide? Isn’t the very idea of suicide against human nature? ‘Plan 75‘ manages to trigger these questions in the minds of the viewers without rhetoric or melodrama, by telling the stories of truthful characters, who win the empathy of the viewers. This is a debut film that has already achieved well-deserved international notoriety.