Japan takes a new approach with its aged population in Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75. The dystopian drama, in which Hayakawa makes her directorial debut, premiered at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section. The movie tells the haunting story of how a government program deals with Japan’s problem of a “super-aged” society. Hayakawa deals with the program through different perspectives, loosely intertwining the fates of three separate characters.
The film is noted to be devoid of a fully dystopian feel, instead carrying a hauntingly real quality with a high emphasis on human feelings and a sense of duty. Plan 75 appears to provide a rather straightforward, simple solution to Japan’s issue. However, Hayakawa’s talent is able to give deeper insight into how governmental decisions impact the real lives of people.
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The film becomes all the more relevant and applicable to Japan as it makes its premiere during a period in which the nation is noted to be aging fast. In 2020, it was pointed out that Japan’s ‘super-aged’ population was the oldest in the world, with 28.7% being 65 or older. The majority of this population are women. It was also predicted that by 2036, people aged 65 and over would represent a third of Japan’s population. This demographic crisis in Japan is credited to a high life expectancy and low fertility rate. Given this demographic backdrop and pressing issue in Japanese society, Hayakawa’s Plan 75 becomes all the more relevant, relatable, and timely.
Inspiration for Plan 75
Cannes Film Festival
The Japanese filmmaker’s inspiration for the movie is reported to have stemmed from her return to Tokyo after spending ten years in New York. Viewing her country after her long absence, Hayakawa commented to The Hollywood Reporter:
Hayakawa adds that she was “enraged” about this new idea that Japan appeared to have adopted and thought of what the country would culminate in if it were to accelerate down such a path of intolerance as a solution to its issues. As a filmmaker, Hayakawa’s answer to Japan’s newfound ideology was Plan 75. The movie, an expansion of a 2018 short, was intended to question Japanese society’s thinking and create empathy toward the marginalized.
“I was surprised by how intolerant Japan had become. There was this new idea of ‘self-responsibility’ that was being talked about everywhere, and the implication seemed to be that the marginalized should find a way to fend for themselves.”
Plan 75’s Storyline
In Plan 75, a program of fully-funded euthanasia, for which those over the age of seventy-five can volunteer, has been introduced by the Japanese government. The program has been created and is advertised as a responsible way of ensuring that the elderly generation does not become a burden to those around them. The Plan can be applied with just a call to lines that are open 24/7.
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The plot primarily follows three characters; the elderly but elegant Michi, played by Chieko Baishô, Maria, played by Stefanie Arianne Akashi, and Hiromu, played by Hayato Isomura. Michi is an ex-hotel maid who is driven to consider Plan 75 after losing her job and lodging. At the same time, Maria is a Filipino woman who takes up work at Plan 75 as a carer who empties the handbags of those who come there to die. Hiromu is a young social welfare officer who works as a recruitment agent for Plan 75. Through the different roles they play, the characters carry important messages to the film’s audiences.
Michi is able to communicate that age doesn’t mean lifelessness; Hiromu’s subplot starkly depicts the realities of events when they apply to your own loved ones; Maria’s job shows the devastating realities of how the last remaining contents of your life can be emptied out in just a few insignificant seconds.
Hayakawa’s Approach
Hayakawa’s tender but icily straightforward approach to the issue of an aging population in Japan communicates the film’s message directly to the hearts of its audience. Despite being pegged as a dystopian drama, Hayakawa has adopted a thought-provoking, somber tone in her narration of the storyline and has thereby been able to highlight the austerity of Japan’s issue. The film doesn’t carry any mind-boggling revelations or dramatic confrontations. Instead, its slow and steady tone, coupled with its setting in very real, ordinary spaces such as offices and hospitals, is able to make the film all the more relatable to its audiences.
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Hayakawa has also embedded a good portion of Japanese culture into the movie. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Hayakawa’s interview of fifteen elderly Japanese women revealed that they would consider a program like Plan 75 if such a program existed. Talking of the culture which propels this ideology and her intention through the film, Hayakawa says:
Core Message of Plan 75
“In Japanese culture, we are so bound by this idea that you should not trouble other people and that doing so is very inappropriate and shameful. It makes it almost impossible for us to ask for help. Ultimately, I wanted this film to wake the audience up and remind them to have empathy.”
Her juxtaposition of these two ideas, the value of life and the normalcy of needing to wipe out a segment of society, leave the audience with a message to chew over. In offering a concluding statement to her movie, Hayakawa says, “I wanted to show that finding the beauty to live is not something that can be explained in the rational, logical way of economic policy. Instead, I tried to give it cinematic expression.” Can the government’s haunting solution of a fully-funded voluntary euthanasia service be implemented in reality? Could this, should this, will this ever happen?
“People tend to expect the film to be a futuristic sci-fi, but I felt it would be more effective to help the audience imagine that this society is just an extension of our real world today”
Delivering a poignant narrative and leaving eerie thoughts dangling, Plan 75 is set for its global release on June 17, 2022.
