A review of the new Japanese film “Plan 75”
In 1973, there was a film called “Soylent Green” which depicted a future Earth (it was set in 2022!) in which rapid population growth and deficiences in supply of food had combined to necessitate that the working classes be provided with artificial nutrients and voluntary euthanaesia. There is a very moving scene where an aged character played by Edward G Robinson takes part in assisted dying to the music and imagery of his choice.In 1976, another fearsome vision of the future was offered in “Logan’s Run” where, in a post-apocalyptic society with scare resources, those reaching the aged of 30 (I was 28 at the time of viewing) are required to take part in a death sequence that they are told will lead to reincarnation. Michael York plays a character called Logan who goes on the run.
Now we have the Japanese film “Plan 75” which is set in a near future where the Japanese government offers financial and social incentives to anyone aged 75 or over who will sign up to an euthanasia programme. It is no accident that the film is set in Japan and is presented in such coldly realistic terms: almost 40% of the country’s population is over 60 and the average longevity of its citizens is 87 for a woman and 81 for a man.
The film is written and directed by a middle-aged woman called Chie Hayakawa and she has chosen a slow and subtle presentation with no drama or tears. We see the Plan 75 programme through the eyes of three characters: an unemployed and lonely woman of 78 who volunteers for the programme (she is played movingly by the veteran 81 year old actress Chieko Baisho), a young staffer on the programme who starts to see things differently when a relative comes forward for euthanasia, and a middle-aged woman from the Philippines who sorts out the belongings of the deceased.
Many people – including me – would support a legal option of assisted dying with appropriate safeguards, but envisage this as an opportunity to die with dignity when pain and suffering are the alternative realities. We don’t want the old or the ill to feel unwanted or unsupported but, as this film underlines so poignantly, this is too often the case when lack of support and absence of companionship can make life feel like little more than a waiting room for death.
PS: I am 75 next month.