The film "The Rest of My Life", adapted from Ryuka Osaka's novel of the same name, tells a love story set against the backdrop of a 10-year life span. Jasmine, the heroine played by Nana Komatsu, responds to the world with a warm smile and is also ready to earn tears from the audience. The film was released in Chinese mainland theaters on May 20.
Through adaptation, let the original author's life survive in the movie
If there are only 10 years left in the rest of your life and the end of your fate is already predetermined, how should life continue? 20-year-old Jasmine Gaolin is such a girl who was sentenced to the rest of her life by a rare disease. The question arises as to whether she is still qualified to be loved and loved under the premise that tragedy cannot be avoided? When Jasmine Takahashi meets Kazuto Mabe, the problem is no longer a problem, love and courage always come at the same time.
In February 2017, Ryuka Kosaka, the original author of "The Rest of His Life", died of primary pulmonary hypertension. In order to commemorate Ryuka Kosaka, the movie version of "The Rest of His Life" made some modifications in the setting, superimposing Ryuka Kosaka's life with a fictional story; For example, Jasmine in the original book is a successful debut cartoonist, but in the movie Jasmine is a writer who is writing "The Rest of My Life". In 2019, when the script was being written, director Michi Fujii met with Ryuka Kosaka's family and listened to Ryuka Kosaka's experiences and stories, which gave him more creative inspiration and gave him a belief that he must give it his all.
Fujii Michito said, "I have respect for Ms. Kosaka and the original work, so I don't feel anything wrong with changing the setting of the story itself. On the contrary, I think that through this film, if you can convey new emotions again, then there will be a chance for more people to read the original work. If Ms. Kosaka's life can continue to live in the hearts of more people, that is my greatest wish."
After losing weight for a year, Nana Komatsu felt that her fuel was being depleted
In order to show the beauty of the four seasons and express a "aesthetic of material mourning", "The Rest of My Life" was filmed for a year, from cherry blossoms falling, summer coasts to winter snowy scenes.
"The change of seasons is represented as a metaphor for time. Over the course of 10 years, the landscape has also changed. First the flowers scattered, then the ginkgo biloba changed color, then the snow fell... As time goes by, the characters' lives change all the time. This kind of image performance is one of the characteristics of film. ”
Michito Fujii, who is good at using metaphors in movies, emphasizes that for works with original works, he will not deliberately emphasize his originality, but will only integrate metaphors in a natural way.
In addition, the long shooting cycle also gave Jasmine's actor Nana Komatsu more time to transform her image, and in the setting, her body became weaker and weaker due to illness, so Nana Komatsu was in a state of weight loss all year long. "The first September scene was happy and bright, we shot for about a week, but then we didn't shoot for a long time, and we didn't start shooting until January. Because I had to keep losing weight, I didn't eat a working meal for the first time on site. "Because of the diet, Nana Komatsu's stomach is always growling, and this sound is especially noticeable if the set is quiet, but this is not her biggest distress." During weight loss, attention will really disappear completely, and in this way, the relationship will suddenly not flow. Even so, I insisted on shooting, repeating it many times ... For example, the scene of confrontation with people in the kitchen, it is like running out of fuel, and if you don't eat, humans can't exert so much emotion and energy... But this scenario is very important, I have to cheer! ”
Love and care inspire people to live their truer selves
Michito Fujii regards "The Rest of My Life" as a "human drama", and "in the video, in addition to the relationship between the protagonist and his lover, I also wanted to portray various forms of love such as family and friends."
Love and death are often involved themes in Japanese pure love films, and the Japanese concept of life and death such as "a moment is eternal" is also constantly exported to the audience through film and television works. Although there are many sadistic moments in the story, the main theme is positive, Fujii Michito said, "I think that in today's unstable society, there are many people who feel uneasy for various reasons and feel hopeless about life. So I wanted to make a movie where everyone who was feeling upset could hear the voice, 'It's not bad at all.'" I often think that movies are a mirror and that what we see is ourselves. This time, through the attitude of young people to face life openly and affectionately, I hope to let the audience feel these love and care and reflect it in their daily lives."
Nana Komatsu, who plays Jasmine, also learned some truths from the movie, "Life is not a frivolous thing, so I don't plan to give up halfway." I've been exploring how to convey that feeling in my own way, rather than just watching it end, I've thought about how to leave proof of Jasmine's life and am determined to live her life."
Author: Zhang Jin [Shanghai TV original manuscript, please contact the editorial office of Shanghai TV Weekly]