PLAN 75
Type: fantastic-dystopian drama
Director: Chie Hayakawa. With Chieko Baisho, Hayato Isomusa, Stefanie Arianne, Taka Takao, Yumi Kawai, Hisako Okata, Kazuyoshi Kushida
Chieko Baisho, protagonist of “Plan 75” (photo by Masahiro Miki)
Chie Hayakawa’s first work illuminated by the interpretation of the octogenarian Chieko Baisho, the film imagines that to solve the problem of population aging and excessive number of elderly people (with the negative repercussions on the national economy, the voice of a speaker is keen to underline) the Japanese government decides to offer – under the name of Plan 75 – the right to assisted death for the over 75s.
But what might seem at first glance to be yet another dystopian science fiction picture becomes the portrait of a society that behind education and good manners has canceled any kind of welcome and help for those who have been marginalized due to age (they are the recipients of the offer: alone, without relatives or work).
The more we see the kindness of the young people charged with assisting those who have chosen to join the Plan, the more we realize the inhumanity and cynicism that prevail in a world where productivity has replaced gratitude.
Chieko Baisho, protagonist of “Plan 75” (photo by Masahiro Miki)
AND the silent resignation with which the elderly accept the conditions of this Plan 75grateful for the warmth of a phone call or the pleasure of a glass of sake, but also convinced of the inevitability of their fate, remains in the heart more than a thousand speeches.
For those who do not want to cancel the right to old age.
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