Brakeless

Documentary exploring one of Japan's biggest train crashes in modern history, caused when a driver tried to catch up with a delay of just 80 seconds. It's a cautionary tale of what happens when punctuality, protocol and efficiency are taken to the extreme. On Monday April 25th 2005, a West Japan Railway commuter train crashed into an apartment building and killed 107 people. Just what pressures made the driver risk so much for such a minimal delay? Piecing together personal accounts of those affected by the train crash, with insights from experts and former train drivers, the film poses a question for a society that equates speed with progress. It offers a fascinating insight into the railway's role in Japan's post-war economic boom and the dangers of corner-cutting in the prolonged economic stagnation that followed. Through the lens of this catastrophic train crash, Brakeless considers the ultimate cost efficiency.

• Kyoko MiyakeDirector

Release date

March 19, 2014

Status

Released

Original language

Japanese

Runtime

1h

Genres

Documentary

• 

  The Seeds of Vandana Shiva

  2021

• Ultimate Christian Wrestling

  2013

• 

  Warrior: The Life of Leonard Peltier

  1991

• 

  Still Life

  2013

• 

  Maison du Bonheur

  2018

• Vannacht worden we Vrouwen

  2013

• 

  Bim Bam Boom, Las Luchas Morenas

  2014

• 

  Dagny - om jag sätter mig ner nu dör jag

  2019

• 

  First Daughter and the Black Snake

  2017

• 

  Children of the Market

  2007

• 

  Maestras Voluntarias

  2022

• 

  Bukovyna, Ukrainian Land

  1939