Warning: Violence, Imagery, and Spoilers
Life is full of experiences, but what experiences can one’s life have that can make it all so meaningless? Building a life from a dream is all well and good, but what good is the dream when one sees what it takes to fulfill that dream? Jinsei, the first independent film created by Ryuya Suzuki, brought to life a story of self-identity. A beautiful and harsh tale that questions the very meaning of life. See the biographical story of Jinsei as he lives through tragic loss, superstardom, a broken past, survival, and a resolute ending and judge for yourself whether such a life is worth living.
A Fresh Take on Hard Truth
Jinsei was self-made by Ryuya Suzuki, a Japanese filmmaker who wrote, hand-drew, directed and composed the entire film himself. The film debuted at the Annecy International Film Festival back in May of 2025 and has been nominated for the Contrechamp Award for Best Film. Jinsei, the main character, follows in his father’s footsteps to become a JPOP idol, but as he reaches towards his dream, reality steps in and he finds out the more he embraces such a hollow lifestyle brought on by greed, gilded cages, and shallow people, the more he sees just how meaningless the spotlight truly is.
Protege
Do you know what it takes to be an idol superstar? It’s brutal, to the point of borderline military training and discipline. Having good looks, rhythm and talent is only the start. It’s what got Jensei and Kin noticed from the beginning by Swan Production or SwaPro.
They’re brought in by the talent agency, forced to bunk with these complete strangers with similar looks and talent, and are told they’d be giving the next five years of their lives to become the next Blue Boyz, the previous JPOP stars Jinsei’s father had previously quit. Five years of intense training: exercise, vocal routines, dance routines, promotional advertisements, an absolute commitment to being a prisoner of their own choosing, all for the chance at being famous.
Blessed or Cursed?
The lingering question still remains as to who or what Jinsei is: Was Jinsei god manifested in the form of a human, or just a human made out to be perceived with godlike power? Japanese culture delves heavily into a spiritual sense. Whenever someone refers to another who has a natural-born talent, they say, “Oh, you’re so amazing being able to do that one thing, you must be blessed by the gods.” Jinsei had the natural talent of being a great dancer, which made him the perfect replacement for his father.
Another part of Japanese culture is the superstitious aspects towards evil spirits. In Jinsei’s case, he was dumped in an abandoned factory and had survived there for years, eating the local wildlife. Every now and then, children would find a discarded animal carcass near the factory, which gave rise to the superstition of the factory being haunted by an evil spirit.
Showing Character by Being Out of Character
Jinsei is by far one of the most emotionless characters we’ve ever seen, save only for a few rare moments when confronted with overwhelming reality. He slapped Kin-chan because he was annoying him while trying grieve over the loss of his mother, he beat up the SwaPro CEO for attempting to use him as a replacement for his father and regain his “investment”, he beat up his stepdad Hiroshi for reuniting with him only to reveal he was using him to get to see what it was like to be a rich socialite, and he killed the underground leader for killing Kin-chan and planning to escape the war but not before wanting to destroy his own community he built.
Jinsei didn’t really personify himself as a godlike figure. It was more like those around him who built this godlike aura around him. Either way, the underground leader dressed as Jesus and proclaimed himself to be god, it made sense why, out of all the others that did Jinsei wrong over the years, the leader was the one who felt his wrath. Really taking the “Thou shalt not have other gods before me” to the extreme.
One Life, One Hundred Years
This film reminds us of Millennium Actress (2001), but instead of a girl’s real-life romantic entanglement being kept just out of reach by her film career, Jinsei leans more towards a coming-of-age turned psychological trauma story ending in absolute nothingness. A sort of out-of-body experience that almost feels like the film is speaking directly to the audience. The film does follow the lifespan of Jinsei, from before his birth to the end of his career. The JPop portion, which we believed to be the main focus right before the launch of his career, instead was the least amount of time spent on the film as a whole.
Then, even after his career and his natural lifespan, it felt like the film extended past that; through betrayals, love, war, all the way to what seemed like the end of time itself. He and all the others that stayed with him eventually evolved beyond the need for a physical body. He sheds his own body, wanders around as this ethereal ghostly being, ascends to heaven, says goodbye, hard cut to credits. As Jinsei, being Ryuya Suzki’s first-ever film, it’s a very abstract, alternative type of film that was made with virtually no budget. It’s absolutely worth a watch for more deeply complex intellectuals looking for bold new talent with independent animation.
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