MENTAL is a feature-length documentary that observes the complex
world of an outpatient mental health clinic in Japan, interwoven with
patients, doctors, staff, volunteers, and home-helpers, in cinema-
verite style. The film breaks a major taboo against discussing mental
illness prevalent in Japanese society, and captures the candid lives
of people coping with suicidal tendencies, poverty, a sense of shame,
apprehension, and fear of society.
