User Reviews

This film is amazing on a number of levels. First I imagine finding this persons corpse to be a shocking moment. Second to have the respect to read his journal pretty amazing. I imagine that it could have just as easily been discarded. And then to make this lovely film honoring this persons efforts to experience the end of their body I find absurd, poetic, compassionate and awakening. What a gift to share! Death is a subject that many seem to relegate to the closet and to understand this thing called life this work seems to ponder with deep curiosity. It definitely stands in line with some of the greatest efforts to understand something that all of us must someday confront. Some fine examples include Kafka's hunger artist to Japanese death poems. I for one am grateful for works of this nature.

"The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy" is a wonderful documentary based on novella "Until I am a Mummy" by Shimada Masahiko which is also apparently based on true story.Mummified body of 40-year old man is found by a hunter somewhere in the wintry forest.A diary is found near his corpse,detailing the man's everyday thoughts as he slowly commits suicide through long (lasting 60+ days) and self-imposed starvation.Life is disillusionment.This is what potentially prompts anonymous nameless male to starve himself to death in his tented grave.Very hypnotic and touching documentary which is surprisingly non-violent despite of morbid subject matter.The nameless male decides to elaborately experience every nuance of suffering.I would like to know when this happened and who he was because his suicidal death was an act of impressive bravery.8 suicides out of 10.

If there was .5 in the ratings I would have chosen 6.5 - Therefore I gave it a 6 However, reading the first review I just had to interject. There are few movies and documentaries (but mostly documentaries) that would move me emotionally. This movie did just that. I felt the scenes justified the subject. Each scene gave me a moment to pause in my own emotional being and question death, life, living, dying. To be given a glimpse into what many have experienced, there are very few who have given us a window into that reality. It helped me a little to understand fear, but at the same time to rejoice and be extremely grateful for being alive. I think this subject is something everyone should ponder and if not, then they obviously are not willing to accept that death is a part of life. Someone giving this documentary a negative is their opinion and their prerogative of course, but then again, we all have mixed reactions when it comes to the inevitable don't we? Death certainly is a hard subject, especially when we consider our own!

I had never heard of this film before finding it on a internet rental service. I wasn't sure what to think of it after reading a little about it, But I ventured forward anyhow. Surprisingly ,I thought this was an amazing film. Based on part truth and part novella this was truly like poetry in film-work. The direction, writing, score, and editing were all one could ask for in such a piece. If you're a person that doesn't enjoy a "dead serious" film, you may not find this quite as interesting. Nevertheless, this film is a wonderful representation of a man's last days. After watching this film I am now certainly interested in checking out the novella and looking into the history behind what truth lies within. If none then I would be content just having the pleasure of watching this. I hope you find this film as enjoyable as I did. Happy viewing!!

I saw this movie at the Viennale festival and I think I wasn't the only one there who thought it was awful. Like the director of the movie himself said: "It's the documentation of a plastic tarp which is exposed to the elements over the period of a few month." And that's all it is. If I only want to hear the text of the book, I would read it. Also, the director didn't check back if it really was a true story, which is okay as long as you don't promote the movie with this. I like uneventful and profound movies, but this was just one of the most unnecessary and poorly made movies I've ever seen. Many people even left the cinema before "The sound of insects" was over.

This could have been a really amazing film but instead the producer who apparently has never experienced depression or had suicidal thoughts attempts to provide imagery that they belief reflects the notes of someone committing suicide. I found it akin to me as a White person attempting to provide images that tell the story of a person who is African-American. So many of the images were so disconnected from what was being spoken by the excellent narrator. Ultimately, I found the movie frustrating and disappointing. I do plan on reading the book now that this movie was based on.