Greatful Dead (2013): The black humour of the voyeur
2013 • Eiji Uchida • 1.85:1 • Jump to Gallery ↓
Eiji Uchida’s Greatful Dead (2013) is a disturbing examination of the loneliness epidemic in Japan. This dark comedy centres on Nami, a socially isolated young woman who obsessively monitors lonely elderly people, waiting for them to die so that she can witness an ‘unattended death’. A product of neglect and emotional deprivation, Nami uses voyeurism as a twisted way to search for connection and validation.
As both a bleak social satire and a violent psychological drama with a strange sense of humour, the film contrasts the lively public spaces in which Nami moves with joy as she spies on her ‘solitarians’, with the dark, cramped and cluttered interiors of the homes in which she finds people dying alone.
As the film plunges into violence, its muted, cold colour palette moves into deeper, washed-out tones. It offers an absurd insight into loneliness, putting a face to a type of alienation that is growing unchecked at the heart of modern society: a psychological disconnection that is taken to an uncomfortable extreme here.
Technical Specs:
- The Story: A lonely young woman spends her days spying on other isolated individuals with binoculars, deriving twisted satisfaction from their solitude. However, her voyeuristic obsession soon spirals into madness and violence. Read my review of Greatful Dead.
- Actors: Kumi Takiuchi, Takashi Sasano, Kim Kkob-bi, Hôka Kinoshita.
- Director: Eiji Uchida
- Year: 2013
- Cinematographer: Shinya Kimura
- Origin: Japanese Cinema
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Genre: Black Comedy / Horror
