高中英语教学：A Filmmaker Imagines a Japan Where the Elderly Volunteer to Die.doc

A Filmmaker Imagines a Japan Where the Elderly Volunteer to Die By Motoko Rich from The New York Times The premise for Chie Hayakawa’s film, “Plan 75”, is shocking: a government push to euthanize the elderly. In a rapidly aging society, some also wonder: Is the movie prescient? TOKYO--- The Japanese film director Chie Hayakawa was germinating the idea for a screenplay when she decided to test out her premise on elderly friends of her mother and other acquaintances. Her question: If the government sponsored a euthanasia program for people 75 and over, would you consent to it? Most people were very positive about it, Ms. Hayakawa said. They didnt want to be a burden on other people or their children. To Ms. Hayakawa, the seemingly shocking response was a powerful relfection of Japan’s culture and demographics. In her first feature-length film, “Plan 75”, which won a special distinciton at the Canner Film Festival this month, the government of a near-future Japan promotes quiet instituationalized deaths and group burials for lonely older people, with cheerful salespeople pitching them on the idea as if hawking travel insurance. “The mind-set is that if the government tells you to do something, you must do it.” Ms. Hayakawa, 45, said in an interview in Tokyo before the film’s opening in Japan on Friday. Following the rules and not imposing on others, she said, are cultureal imperatives “that make sure you don’t stick out in a group setting.” With a lyrical, understated touch, Ms. Hayakawa has taken on one of the biggest elephants in the room in Japan: the challenges of dealing with the world’s oldest society. Close to one-third of the country’s population is 65 or lder, and Japan has more centenarians per capita than any other nation. One out of five people over 65 in Japan live alone, and the country has the highest proportion of pepole suffering from dementia. With a rapidly declining population, the government faces potential pension shortfalls and questions about