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brakeless
(2014)


directed by kyoko miyake
edited by herbert hunger

On Monday April 25th 2005, a West Japan Railway (West JR) commuter train crashed into an apartment building and killed 107 people when a driver tried to catch up with an 80-second delay. Since the accident, the official committee report has concluded that the direct cause of the accident was over-speeding and West JR have agreed to pay compensation for the victims and changed the timetable. However, the fundamental question has remained unanswered - what made the driver risk so many lives for an 80-second delay?

Piecing together personal accounts of those affected by the train crash, Brakeless looks at a society which does not seem to know when to stop its pursuit of efficiency. It examines the way in which the characteristics that are usually considered the national virtues - punctuality and loyalty to protocol - have become societal impediments and ultimately, dangers to the people of Japan.

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