"Soft/Quiet", horror of hate crime [Ichiro Enokido's Movie Akasata Vol.

This was a really scary movie. At first, the story begins with a peaceful scene in a kindergarten. The main character is Emily, a kindergarten teacher. A beautiful and healthy white woman. In the scene where he harshly attacks the cleaning lady (a person of color) and insults her, my first thought is "?". In a quiet residential area with lots of greenery, faint signs of anomaly appear. Emily brings pie to the tea party she hosts. The first meeting of ``Daughters of Aryan Unity'' is held in a church common room. At first glance, it looks like an ordinary girls' night out, but Emily's homemade pie has a Hakenkreuz pattern on it.

It was a white supremacist tea party. The six haters begin by introducing themselves and talking about how disgusting they feel about people of color and how they are at a disadvantage because of it. The feeling that everyone sympathizes with one person who speaks erratically is similar to the self-help groups for alcoholics often seen in American dramas. A relationship where you can confide in the bitter feelings you've been carrying alone for many years, have someone accept your feelings, and have someone affirm that ``you're not wrong'' is a relief for haters as well. Everyone becomes strong-willed and excited to fight. Let's exclude people of color. However, says Emily. The title is "Soft/Quiet". On the surface, it's soft, but it secretly gets into your heart. That's what "Daughters of Aryan Unity" does.

This is about the introduction, but the film itself is ``soft/quiet.'' Drops of discomfort drip into the mundane everyday life. The audience wonders "?" and "!" each time, but they still don't realize the full story. Before you know it, you're in the middle of madness. Everyone at the tea party is acting strange. You'll be kicked out of the church. "I won't report you, so please go home now."

So they decide to have an after-party at Emily's house, and stop at a store on the way to buy food and wine. An Asian female customer came there. Everyone is so anxious about their friends today that they harass them like high school students. However, the Asian female customer was strong-willed and didn't give in and fought back. The story develops rapidly. Well, that's about all I can do without spoilers. I'll keep it a secret from now on. I forgot to mention that the entire 92-minute length of this movie is shot in one uninterrupted shot. Time also progresses seamlessly from daytime to evening to night. A one-shot picture feels like a documentary. The audience feels as if they are participating in a gathering of white supremacists themselves. It looks like reality, not something made up.

“Soft/Quiet” © 2022 BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

At the beginning, I said it was a ``scary movie,'' but this is where it really gets scary. It's not really a horror movie. There aren't any man-eating Dawn of the Dead or monsters. However, people who seemingly can be found anywhere start to go insane. What's scary is that you get the illusion that you're a part of it too.

Emily and her friends stop at a store and start harassing an Asian female customer like a high school student. I remembered my school days. I was constantly changing schools due to my father's work, so I was often teased for my Tokyo dialect, talked about behind my back, and harassed. It's really infantile. ``I want to make fun of strangers,'' ``I want to vent my unpleasant feelings,'' ``I want to make fun of everyone and feel superior,'' and I think these are connected to something fundamental to human beings. Emily and her friends are adults of a good age, but each of them has a strong sense of discrimination, and they go berserk just like locusts become swarmed.

The atmosphere is like that of school days. It's like someone is being bullied and you're unsure whether to fight back or turn a blind eye. Or the feeling of fear that the atmosphere would change in an instant and the target of the attack would come towards you. What's The Day After scarier is that I myself have something that is fundamental to humanity. When the atmosphere shifts towards hate, I too feel the urge to vent my negative emotions on someone I consider to be my enemy. ``Soft/Quiet'' has such a realistic feel and so much momentum that I'm scared of myself. If I were at that store, would I be able to stop Emily and the others? I get goosebumps with a sense of fear.

When a gruesome crime is reported, you often think, ``The culprit who committed such a terrible thing was not human!'' He's not human, he should be given the death penalty. I can understand the emotion. However, I think it wouldn't be so scary if the culprit in the gruesome incident was not human. After all, it's the same as man-eating Dawn of the Dead and beasts. You can feel at ease knowing that he is different from you, that he is different from you, that he is dangerous, that he is crazy.

However, in reality, humans are the ones who do such horrible things. The reason ``Soft/Quiet'' has a sense of realism is because it is connected to the reality in which I live. I think it's a challenging movie. I recommend it.

Text: Ichiro Enoki

Born in 1959. Born in Akita Prefecture. Debuted in a commercial magazine with ``Takarajima'' in 1980 while studying at Chuo University. Since then, he has serialized columns and essays in various magazines, and continues to this day. Also active on radio and television. Twitter @ichiroenokido

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"Soft/Quiet"

Nationwide release from May 19th (Friday) at Human Trust Cinema Shibuya, Shinjuku Musashinokan, and other locations

Distribution: Albatross Film

© 2022 BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS, LLC. All Rights Reserved.