2016 Hot Docs ‘Gatekeeper’

The Gatekeeper (2016) which is written and directed by Yung Chang is a poignant documentary that shines a light on suicide in Japan, a national social issue where in 2014, there were almost 70 documented suicides a day. Chang documents the efforts of Mr. Yukio Shige, the Gatekeeper, Mrs. Kawagoshi and a dedicated team of volunteers who do their bit to combat suicide along the Tojinbo cliffs which is a national park that overlooks the Sea of Japan, in Fukui Prefecture on the Island of Honchu. The cliffs have been a popular tourist destination spot for Japanese tourists who have come to enjoy the views but more so in recent years because of its association as a popular place for those intent on killing themselves. Many Japanese resort to jumping off cliffs to end their lives besides throwing themselves in front of trains, overdosing or hanging themselves.

Chang films Mr. Shige and several members of his team in their efforts to fight suicide on the cliffs as they patrol the area looking to spot and reach out to people whom they feel are in need of kindly assistance juxtaposed with images of tourists arriving and enjoying the scenic spot. Chang also intersperses Mr. Shige’s backstory and that of Mrs. Kawagoshi in the narrative, with scenes revolving around Heartfelt Oroshi-Mochi Cafe where we see Mr. Shige comforting a man and then intervening with the man’s mother to smooth the situation back home, visiting with someone he stopped from jumping to a heartfelt conversation with a young man whom he spotted on the cliffs and whom Mrs. Kawagoshi has invited back to the cafe. The Cafe serves a dual purpose. It’s a place that offers support in a non-clinical setting to those in need but caters to tourists who regularly visit the Tojinbo cliffs serving them mochi.

The film opens with total blackness then cuts to a wide angle shot of the sea with dark clouds in the sky. The film continues with a scene of the cliffs then cuts to a wide angle shot of people standing near the edge of the cliffs looking out and then cuts to a wide angle shot of breaking waves against the rugged shoreline. The film then cuts to our main character, Mr. Yukio Shige, whose story and passion drives the narrative, shaving and grooming himself. Seeing the man and his reflected image made for a visually powerful impression and I felt it alluded to the Japanese concepts of honne and tatamae, words that describe the contrast between a person’s true feeling (honne) and the behavior and opinons one displays in public (tatamae). The film then cuts to an image of his spouse in the kitchen preparing breakfast and then cuts to Mr. Shige seated on the floor at a low table with his breakfast spread out reading his paper. The film then cuts to a scene of him smoking a cigarette in a dimly lit room framed in the mid-ground with the foreground and background slightly out of focus narrating his experiences with suicide victims and telling us that he wants nothing more to see an end to suicide. Its another powerful image in the documentary which I felt shined a light against his opposing views in a society where suicide has been practiced for centuries beginning with the samurai and considered honourable. The film cuts to a scene of him driving his vehicle on his way into town to Heartfelt Oroshi-Cafe, home of Tojinbo Nonprofit Organization Support Center, narrating that people thought what he was doing was crazy.

Mr. Shige’s drive and compassion to helping those in need knows no limits. He wipes away the tears from a man’s face, stops a passerby he meets on a path to check that he isn’t intent on killing himself, endlessly patrols the cliffs with binoculars in hand searching and looking for people intent on harming themselves, teaches a volunteer the behavioural signs of someone who is intent on hurting himself as opposed to someone who is enjoying the views, and searching the town at night looking for a young man whom he noticed acting strangely in the park who had a scarf covering the lower half of his face. Chang creates a very moving intimate portrait of this good samaritan.

I found The Gatekeeper to be a very powerful documentary that touched me on many levels. It is well-crafted and thought out with amazing visuals. It is nevertheless the story of an ordinary man together with his team doing something extraordinary and who personify the good samaritan looking out for their neighbour and treating them with kindness and care. Despite the prevailing views that many Japanese people hold about suicide, Mr. Shige and his team are providing a great public service and Chang has done them a great service by making this moving documentary about them that shines a light on suicide in Japan.

Gatekeeper will be playing at various theatres:

Scotiabank theatre 7 on April 30 @ 7:30 p.m.
TIFF Bell Lightbox 1 on May 1 @ 2:00 p.m.
Scotiabank theatre 14 on May 8 @ 11:00 a.m.

Tickets can be purchased here!