This film is a haunting meditation on suicide. Through artistic and thoughtful juxtapositions of found 16mm footage that had been discarded, it creates an elegiac tribute to people who have committed suicide. Its form is strangely appropriate since the fact that the images were found lends it a certain universality while also implicitly mourning the demise of the art of celluloid. The sadness, the isolation, and the desire to escape are recorded on film in many different contexts. Voice-over readings from the journal kept by a brother of the filmmaker’s friend who committed suicide in 1990 intermix with a range of compelling stories, from the poignant double suicide of an elderly American couple who could not afford to pay for health care to a Japanese teenager who jumped into a volcano, spawning over a thousand imitations. While this is a serious exploration of a cultural taboo, its lyrical qualities invite the viewer to approach the subject with understanding and compassion.  AM