Red Star Interview 丨 "Entering the Mortician" Director Yojiro Takita: In order to make a good movie, the main creator went to the funeral site to work part-time

"Death is a door, it does not mean the end of life, but through it, to the next stage." 」 This is a classic line in "The Mortician". Many viewers said that "The Mortician" is a classic film that will never go out of style, and even after 13 years, its Douban score is still rising. Directed by Yojiro Takita, with the soundtrack by Hisaishi Jean, and starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hiromi, and Tsuyoshi Yamazaki, the 4k restored version of the Oscar-winning film "Entering the Mortuary" is being screened, resonating with the audience, and the film currently has a Douban rating of 8.9 points. Some viewers said that when they watched the movie, they laughed and laughed and cried, "The first half of the movie makes you laugh more happily, and the second half can make you cry how sad!" ” What was the untold behind-the-scenes story of The Mortician when it was filmed? After 13 years, what does the director want to share with the audience? Recently, the Red Star News reporter interviewed the director of the film, Yojiro Takita, through the film producer.

Directed by Yojiro Takita

Talk about the release of the 4K restored version

"I hope the audience feels its healing and beauty"

The 4k restored version of "Entering the Mortician" was released on October 29, and the current box office has exceeded 37 million, and many viewers have poured into Douban to score high scores. "The Mortician" won the 81st Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and was selected as the top 250 Douban high-scoring movies for many years. The film unfolds from the perspective of a novice mortician, Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), observing various deaths and gazing at the loving people surrounding the deceased.

In the face of the audience's praise, Yojiro Takita said, "I heard that many people have gone to see the 4k restored version of the movie, I hope you feel its healing and beauty in the theater, and I hope that more people can support this movie, thank you." ”

At the time of the film's release, Yojiro Takita interacted with Chinese fans on Douban and Zhihu. He bluntly said that "The Mortician" gathered a lot of respectable creators, such as Hisaishi Jean infusing this work with unparalleled music, "I also remember that Masahiro Motoki spent a long time observing and learning for this special role, and even practicing cello every day after shooting." The work "The Mortician" allows all kinds of talents to collide in it, and produces the greatest chemical reaction. ”

The film was released in China, and Yojiro Takita could not hide his excitement, he said: "This time I can be released in the theater like a dream, and I hope to hear more feedback from everyone, if I can, I really want to go to the Chinese theater to quietly see everyone's reaction!" Please help us promote oh, thank you very much. ”

Yojiro Takita said that in retrospect, in the early days of creation, people had no idea what kind of movie "Entering the Mortuary" would become. "But what is certain is that as we get older, we experience more separation from others and we are deeply touched." Of course, everyone is far away from life and death, and they don't even want to think about it, and of course they don't want to rehearse and rehearse. But since people are born in this world, they know in their hearts that that day will come sooner or later, so they will have a mentality of wanting to sneak a peek. ”

Yojiro Takita said that parting is a lesson that everyone's life cannot avoid, and it has also become the starting point of the film, "We take the things that everyone will eventually face as a clue, constantly do interviews, and even personally participate in the funeral ceremony, constantly groping for the topics we have set for ourselves, and "Entering the Mortician" was born in this kind of exploration and attempt." It is also because of it that we have had the privilege of experiencing experiences that no one else has. In the end, the film also won everyone's praise, and it is my great honor as a director to be able to re-release it like this after 13 years in a restored appearance. ”

Talk about shooting

"The main creative staff of the whole crew went out, and even went to the funeral site to do part-time work"

Yojiro Takita revealed that when he first read the script, he felt that the content was very intimate. "Although the subject matter is rare, my intuition tells me that this movie must be interesting. I think finding something appealing in a subject that others don't want to touch is probably the habit of all directors. Yojiro Takita bluntly said that there was a certain difference between the original script style and the final effect, and he and the screenwriter Kaoru Oyama changed the character and the character's understanding of death in the continuous communication. In Takita's view, death is not a dark event, so it deliberately integrates a lot of comedy elements in it, and the director specifically mentions the job interview of Daigo Kobayashi in the film, the recording of the funeral master's teaching video, and the funny scene of eating fried chicken with colleagues on Christmas Eve, which are all clips that he personally likes very much.

Yojiro Takita said that at that time, in order to shoot "Entering the Mortician Division", the main creative staff of the whole crew went out, and even went to the funeral site to do part-time work, and this experience did become a foundation for "Entering the Mortician Division". "Usually no one does this kind of work." Benki went, I went... On the spot, that sense of realism came over me. When you are in it, witnessing the emotions that occur in those daily lives and feeling the emotions that flow between relatives, you will realize that the surface calm is actually full of emotional tension. Benmu, who was very compatible with me, immediately realized this. "By observing the real situation, people will clearly remember the actions of the mortician and then think about how to convey the funeral ritual to the audience in a real and complete performance."

In order to make the movie well, Yojiro Takita conducted a lot of preliminary interview work, learned a lot in the interview, and gained a lot. For example, knowing that the mortician is a very physically demanding job, each burial ceremony must take at least 30 minutes to an hour, so it will be tired and sore, and will be hungry.

Talk about actors

"In the middle of the night, you can hear the sound of Masahiro Motoki playing the cello"

In the film, Masahiro Motoki, played by the mortician Daigo Kobayashi, is in place to portray the details of the characters, especially the process of arranging the appearance of the deceased is methodical, expressing respect for the deceased.

Talking about the process of cooperation with actors, in Takita Yojiro's view, the cooperation between the director and the actors is a relationship of mutual inspiration, "it is not so much that I am guiding the actors to perform, but that we are experiencing together, feeling the emotions together, and then using this as inspiration to sculpt and express." Yojiro Takita revealed that the original planning of "The Mortician" originated from an experience by Masahiro Motoki: when he went to India, he witnessed a local funeral on the banks of the Ganges River and was greatly touched. Because of this, he has a deep affection for this film about life and death.

Behind Masahiro Motoki's delicate performance is his long-term dedication. Yojiro Takita revealed that in the beginning, Masahiro Motoki would pull the staff in the middle of the night and let the staff play the corpse for more than an hour, and he would come to practice. Later, he also found his own agent to continue practicing. Masahiro Motoki is a person who is obsessed with work, so his efforts are well displayed in the film, and he presents the audience with the manners and inner world of the funeral master beyond imagination.

The music composed by music master Hisaishi Jean for this film is impressive, and the melodious cello pieces bring the audience a warm power. Yojiro Takita said that in order to perform those beautiful cello pieces, Masahiro Motoki really studied the cello very hard. "At the location of the location, we all stayed in the hotel and could hear the cello every night until the middle of the night. Although we have proposed not to pull again after 12 o'clock, it is to no avail. "Masahiro Motoki really worked very hard to play the violin, and reduced a lot of rest time to practice." Later, our crew simply wrapped up the whole floor (room) and told him that it didn't matter when you practiced until the morning. Thanks to Benki's seriousness, the violin scenes in the movie are fully displayed. ”

Talk about yourself

"Even at this age, you still have to constantly hone your sense of cinema"

Born in 1955 in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, Japan, Yojiro Takita is a well-known Japanese director and screenwriter who joined a film production company in 1976 as a director's assistant. 2008 was the culmination of Yojiro Takita's career as a director, who won the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film for "The Mortician", won the Best Director Award at the 32nd Japan Academy Awards, and won more than 100 awards worldwide. It is worth mentioning that before the film won the Oscar, "The Mortician" won three awards at the 17th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival: "Audience's Favorite Foreign Film", "Audience's Favorite Foreign Director" and "Audience's Favorite Foreign Actor".

Asked about how his work and life have changed since winning the Oscars? Yojiro Takita said that this is a supreme honor and has become a business card for him, and he is grateful. Yojiro Takita revealed that in fact, "Entering the Mortician" has been unpopular from the beginning of the project, and even shelved for a year after the completion of the film, "This year I was in a state of despair for a long time, I myself was not able to participate in the promotion of the film, when we were making another new movie, when shooting in the mountains, suddenly many people congratulated me, saying that I won the grand prize at the Montreal Film Festival, and then soon after I was notified that I had won the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Award, which was a turning point in the beginning." Movies are alive, and so is "The Mortician", which gained a force in its dying state, relying on the support of fans to revive the dead, and finally won the Oscar. Yojiro Takita said bluntly that movies can convey ideas and open the door to the world, "Although the language is different and the habits are different, for me, what really remains in my heart after winning the award is this practical feeling, which directly gives me a kind of strength, and I am grateful to all the fans who chose this movie." Therefore, I feel more deeply that even at my current age, I still have to constantly hone my sense of cinema. Although I don't know how well-known this movie is in China and who recommended it to you, I don't know at all, but I am very grateful to the Chinese fans. ”

Yojiro Takita is good at skillfully blending humor and touching emotions in his works, and when he mentioned his new film plan, Yojiro Takita said, "There are plans to make a new movie, but I can't say it yet, and when I can say it, I will tell you." First of all, I still want to invite Chinese audiences to watch the film "Entering the Mortician"; in addition, I also have a film "Smelling Smoke" (starring Zhang Guoguo and Han Geng) shot in China, and I have also been exposed to some projects. I now want to know how Chinese audiences view my films, and I think that through films, I can have more values resonance with Chinese audiences, and movies are like that. ”

Red Star News reporter Zhang Shihao intern Wang Zuxi

Edited by Li Xueli

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