A (1998)

Directed by

Tatsuya Mori

Genre

documentary film

Country

Japan

Runtime

2h 16m

Rating

5.9 of 10 from 198 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A documentary takes a close look at the Aum Shinrikyo cult after the 1995 sarin gas attack. It follows a young spokesman who has cut ties with his family and rejected material things.

observationalintimateneutralsoberingpatientenigmaticgroundedcontemplativelow-key

What happens

A is a 1998 Japanese documentary film about the Aum Shinrikyo cult following the arrest of its leaders for instigating the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. The film focuses on a young spokesman for the cult Hiroshi Araki, a troubled 28-year-old who had severed all family ties and rejected all forms of materialism. Director Tatsuya Mori was allowed exclusive access to Aum's offices for over a year as news media were continually kept out. However, despite the documentary's unique perspective on Aum's internal workings, it was not financially successful. Mori released the sequel A2 in 2001, which returned to Araki and examined the competing factions of the sect (renamed Aleph), during the trial of their leader Shoko Asahara and his associates. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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