There is such a movie, I believe everyone must have seen it.
If you want Brother Yi to describe the two shots that impressed him the most, they are the face of the goose feather snow girl looking up, and the pencil portrait in the sun.
I think everyone must have guessed it, because they are so famous and too touching - these two scenes are from the famous "Love Letters" by Japanese director Shunji Iwai.
Don't hide from everyone that although Brother Yi is not young, no matter how many times he watches this "Love Letter", he will be moved to tears.
One of Iwai's favorite actresses, Suzuki Apricot (starring in "Flowers and Alice"), once said that under Iwai Shunji's "uncle body", there is a "girlish heart". Maybe every uncle has a girlish heart.
This "Love Letter" is not only one of Shunji Iwai's best film works, but also a Japanese film that was released in Chinese mainland in the 90s. As a result, it is also a household name in China and has become a valuable film memory for many Chinese film fans.
And after Iwai Shunji's name, it seems that he naturally followed the unshakable masterpiece of "Love Letters".
However, Brother Yi is not here to introduce "Love Letters" today, but to "fight and hug". Brother Ichigo wants everyone to know that Shunji Iwai is not only such a "love letter".
If you want to know the reason for Brother Yi's unfairness, it is a long story.
In fact, when Brother Yi was visiting Douban today, he saw Shunji Iwai's new work "Hello, Zhihua".
Don't look at it, don't know, look at it and be shocked, this is actually a Chinese movie. Next to Shunji Iwai's name, I also saw actors such as Zhou Xun and Qin Hao, as well as Chen Kexin as a producer.
In fact, director Shunji Iwai has a long history of fate with China. In "Flowers and Alice", the scene where Alice, played by Yu Aoi, says "I love you" to her father in Chinese is unforgettable.
Shunji Iwai not only frequently comes to China to participate in events, but even has his own Sina Weibo. Among the Weibo movie bigwigs that Brother Yi pays attention to, he is one of the few "living people" who often introduces interesting things about movies to fans.
Therefore, it is not a special surprise that Brother Ichi saw Shunji Iwai cooperating with Chinese filmmakers this time. However, what makes Brother Yi feel angry is these few Douban short comments.
In the eyes of these fans, it seems that Shunji Iwai only has such an unshakable movie classic "Love Letter". People are always wondering, why can't Shunji Iwai make a film like "Love Letter" anymore?
Brother Yi must admit that "Love Letters" is indeed a very good work. But is Shunji Iwai really only one such "Love Letter"? Brother Ichigo wants to tell you today that Shunji Iwai has many other skills in addition to "Love Letters".
First of all, Shunji Iwai did not come from a film background.
At first, he shot music television (MV), commercials and TV series. In his short television clip The Tale of the Summer Solstice, we see the rudiments of the teenage girls who have since appeared in his films.
His short but wonderful TV series "Fireworks" tells a story of youth full of summer atmosphere.
"Fireworks" won the Newcomer Award at the then Japan Film Association Awards, which was awarded to a non-film director for the first time.
It wasn't until 1995 that he made his feature-length film debut, Love Letters.
He kind of caught up with a good time. The 1990s have been called the "renaissance of Japanese cinema." At the same time, Takeshi Kitano won an award at the Venice Film Festival, and Naomi Kawase also won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. The Japanese film festival is a talented talent, and Shunji Iwai has become one of the bright stars.
Like Shunji Iwai, many of the masters of this period were not film directors at first. For example, Takeshi Kitano was originally a cross-talk actor, and the eccentric Yuan Ziwen started with a short film shot on 8mm film.
It is worth mentioning that Shunji Iwai has not completely abandoned his "old business".
Experience of shooting MVs and commercials. He brought imaginative light, sound and color treatment to his subsequent films, and created a highly recognizable "Iwai" style of imagery.
Second, Shunji Iwai doesn't just make "that kind" of "Love Letters."
Brother Yi personally feels that "Love Letters" seems to have become some kind of "Japanese myth".
It's truly a moving film: fresh images, warm emotions, delicate characterization... Shunji Iwai was also given the title of "Little Fresh Godfather".
But does Shunji Iwai really only make "fresh" movies like "Love Letters" and "April Story"?
Brother Ichigo wants to tell everyone that Shunji Iwai will make more movies.
In Ichigo's view, Shunji Iwai is not only the "Little Fresh Godfather", but also the "Dark Godfather". Moreover, Shunji Iwai's darkness is not black for black's sake, and it is always possible to reveal the social problems of contemporary Japan in a different way.
In All About Lily Week, Shunji Iwai unabashedly tells the story of extreme cruelty of youth. Caught up in a series of social problems, from school bullying to aiding friends, young girls can only find sustenance through music.
In "Swallowtail Butterfly", there is a city called "Randu", which is full of violence, pornography and fraud.
In this fictional city of Shunji Iwai, it is full of mirrors and metaphors of reality. Ichigo believes that this may be the most complex and profound film of Shunji Iwai.
You may have heard of these two movies. But now the movie that Brother Yi wants to recommend to everyone may be little known.
In fact, Shunji Iwai also made a film called "Vampire".
When you hear about vampires, the first thing that probably comes to mind is a western vampire with sharp teeth, a pale face, and prey. However, Shunji Iwai's Vampire is very different.
In this film, the so-called "vampire" is just a sick biology teacher. The people who sucked blood were actually volunteers, eager to commit suicide by donating blood.
Shunji Iwai uses such a bizarre and sad story to express his concern for these marginalized people who are "volunteers".
Brother Ichi introduced so much, just to tell everyone that Shunji Iwai is actually an all-round director who can completely control many genres other than "Little Fresh".
In the end, Shunji Iwai is not just a film director.
Brother Yi once introduced our Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang in a previous article. He can not only direct, but also act, act well, really all-round.
And The Iwai Shunji that Brother Ichi talked about today is even more versatile than Tian Zhuangzhuang. We, the directors of Iwai, have too many skills.
Shunji Iwai's first identity is naturally a novelist.
Director Iwai has published 10 novels so far, almost as prolific as movies.
Maybe many people have that black cover "Everything About Lily Week" in their youth.
His second identity was that of a musician. Brother Ichigo does not say, probably no one knows, our director Iwai actually plays music! Let's not forget that he was once an MV director.
Together with singer-songwriter Shiina Ginto and pianist Kuwahara, he formed the crossover orchestra Hec & Pascal, and also participated in the lyrics and composition of a large number of film scores. Many of the melodies that everyone remembers are composed by Director Iwai himself.
Brother Yi would also like to tell you that this orchestra often tours China, and I have been there once. Although there were not many people coming, and the concert hall was not full, listening to the familiar melodies in "Love Letters" and "Flowers and Alice", Brother Yi was still inevitably touched.
His third identity is "Iwai Sensei".
Some people may ask, when did Shunji Iwai become a teacher? Brother Ichi recommends that you watch "Shunji Iwai's Film Research Room", and you will suddenly realize.
In this TV show, director Shunji Iwai summoned directors such as Yuki Dingxun and Hideaki Anno, and actors such as Yu Aoi and Apricot Suzuki to jointly direct the younger generations of the film industry.
In each episode, director Iwai will choose themes such as "love" and "science fiction" to discuss the development of film history and shooting techniques of this theme with the invited guests.
At the same time, young people who love movies can also submit their own one-minute short films for these film predecessors to point out.
I have to say that director Shunji Iwai supports the newcomers in the film industry in this way, which is really admirable.
Brother Ichigo said so much, just to tell everyone that Shunji Iwai did not have to be bound to "Love Letters" all the time.
Not only did he constantly break through on the themes and genres of the film, but he even did a lot of things other than filmmaking. Definitely not like the previous Douban review intercepted by Brother Yi, he is a director of fried cold rice.
The year before, his "Rip van Winkel's Bride" had won the top ten awards of the Quarterly Newspaper. His animated films "Flowers and Alice's Murder" and "Fireworks", which he adapted his film works, have adopted completely different scripts and themes, at least Yi Ge has gained a new look and feel.
Therefore, Ichigo will also hold 100% expectations to welcome director Shunji Iwai's new work "Hello, Zhihua".