Gaichû (2001)

English title: Harmful Insect

*spoilers below*

Sachiko is a teenage girl who lives a lonely life. His father divorced her mother who goes from one fleeting relationship to the next, with suicide attempts in between. In Sachiko's recent past, when she was thirteen, she had a close friendship with a teacher from her school, who now lives in another town and works at a nuclear power plant. Her colleagues at school make innuendos about that relationship. She befriends a petty crook who lives in a shabby house with an older man with mental problems. Her friend gets into trouble with some hoodlums who beat him badly. After a time away from school, she returns and resumes a friendship with another girl. A boy from school starts courting her. Her school girlfriend gets jealous and tells the boy the gossips about the ex-teacher (this last detail I learned from a review and did not perceive on watching the movie). One day Sachiko returns home and her mother's boyfriend is inside, but her mother is away. He tries to rape Sachiko, but her mother arrives just in time. Sachiko's old outlaw friend dies (apparently). She meets his old housemate and together they set a house (hers?) on fire with molotov cocktails. She calls her  former teacher and sets up a date with him in a restaurant. She hitchhikes to the dating point, which apparently is near where he works. He has some car trouble on the way and tries to call the restaurant but the line is busy. By the time he arrives there, she has just left with a man whom she met at the restaurant. He recruits young girls into  prostitution.

*end of spoilers *

I do not enjoy this sort of movie, and the elliptical style does not make things easier. It is not badly made though, and has some urban sights of Japan which I find interesting. About the drama, I can only hazard a guess that the protagonist is genetically predisposed to depression (that harmful insect), same as her mother. There is a connection with Shônen (1969) through her young friend's dangerous way of making a living. I made a synopsis with more detail than my usual, to make up for my lack of insight into the movie's meaning and purpose.

Rating: 40