Based on Osamu Dazai's most famous novel, Genjiro Arato's "Ningen Shikkaku" ("The Fallen Angel") is a characteristic gamble for the veteran producer/ director, known for rushing in where others fear to tread.
Arato's 1995 directorial debut, "Fazafakka" ("The Girl of Silence"), dealt with father-daughter incest, while his 2005 production of Tatsushi Omori's "Gerumaniumu no Yoru" ("The Whispering of the Gods") featured graphic scenes of sexual abuse at a Catholic orphanage.
The semiautobiographical "Ningen Shikkaku" was long considered impossible to film — and Arato, unfortunately, shows why.
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