Cannes Film Festival's alternative darling Takashi Miike this year with a new film "First Love" shortlisted for the Director's Bi-Weekly Section. The film, starring Masataka Wata, Shota Someya, Becky and newcomer Sakurako Konishi, brings lightness and pleasure to the serious and busy Cannes. The interview with director Takashi Miike was also very pleasant, he was humorous and frank, and made people laugh frequently. The media prists on the side gave reporters more time to complete the interview, "In a place like the Cannes Film Festival, it's rare to have such a happy interview and enjoy it." Indeed, the interview with Takashi Miike was a pleasant experience.
Takashi Miike, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, cut his hair very short to look like a real black road. This new work still tells the story of the underworld, "In today's Japanese society, it is also difficult for the underworld to survive. But these people also have their own encounters and relationships, and I made this film to some extent to show my concern for these people. When asked if he had any contact with the underworld in reality, Takashi Miike began to say in a tone that told the legend of the city: "I have gotten a lot of feedback from the underworld. A mafia group filed a formal lawsuit against the producers, saying that they couldn't play the piano in reality! I've gotten a lot of complaints from the underworld. Sometimes I would bring them a bottle of Sake as an apology. But that cannot be done now. Because ordinary citizens in Japan are not allowed to contact underworld members. But if you're going to shoot in Shinjuku Kabuki Street, you have to say hello to the underworld or they'll kick you away. Not to give them money, but to tell them well before shooting. It's not about asking for their permission, it's about telling them we're doing it. The director paused, lowered his voice and joked, "It used to be possible to give money, but now our Japanese film industry is very poor." We don't have money to give them. ”
In "First Love", a Chinese gangster group appeared. Takashi Miike explains the arrangement this way: "50% of the underworld in Shinjuku is Chinese and Koreans. The underworld in this film is played by a Taipeiese. A mischievous smile appeared on the director's face again, "I choose actors in Taiwanese circles, because in the Taiwanese film industry, many big producers have underworld backgrounds, so Taiwanese actors have a soprano feeling." ”
Although there is a certain contact with the underworld in real life, the real underworld life is still relatively distant for Takashi Miike. "In Japan, there is a department in the police department that specializes in controlling the underworld. The underworld has its own world and language, and if you talk to them, you have no idea what they're talking about. The grammar is the same, but the vocabulary is completely different. So if you use the underworld language entirely in the movie, the audience may not be able to understand it. So I personally want to come into contact with the underworld. I met a former underworld member, showed him the conversation, and asked him how he felt. ”
The images of several leading actors in "First Love" are also interesting. The lean Masataka Wada plays a professional boxer, while the baby-faced Sokota plays a fierce but constantly joke-ridden gangster. For such an arrangement, Takashi Miike also has his own considerations. "10 years ago, Wada came to my casting. For a long time afterwards, he played the same role in TV dramas, it clerks, legal people, as an actor, he actually felt very frustrated. His struggles and pressures are very human and fit the character. So I asked him to play the role of this boxer and release his pressure completely. He was going to star in a morning drama for a year. ”
"General Dyeu doesn't look like the underworld at all." Takashi Miike laughed. "So I don't tell him what the underworld is like, give him the most freedom." This role was not played by him, but he created it himself. ”
The two female characters are also quite prominent. Sakurako Konishi's character is weak and innocent, while Becky plays an almost crazy soprano girlfriend. "Sakurako Konishi is a newcomer with no experience in acting at all. Because of this, she has a particularly innocent temperament, which is exactly the freshness I want, making her relationship with Wada a pure romance. Becky is a Japanese tv artist who often goes to TV shows. But because of some scandal, she was banned by the TV station. I wanted her to play this flamboyant role, and there was no casting between us, so I said to her directly, 'You play'. ”
As a regular at the Festival de Cannes, Takashi Miike is not favored by the awards. His films are highly entertaining and stylized, which is far from the film styles of other literary authors. "I myself don't have any awareness of whether it's a genre movie or not. Genre films are what other people say about me. I don't mind that. Whispering to myself, I just shot the story I wanted to make. If others think that genre films are inferior to art films, I don't care. ”
Takashi Miike's "genre films" were influenced by manga and pop culture, and he couldn't help but talk about Ultraman, "I've loved anime and feature films since I was a kid. Close-ups usually make a lot of series, and they have to make money from the children. Around the time I was in the sixth grade of elementary school, Ultraman began to play, and it still plays to this day. Takashi Miike laughed and crossed his arms into a cross shape to make Ultraman moves, "I love Ultraman and have filmed several episodes of it. I thought it was great to be a director, and it was the most enjoyable thing in my directing career. ”
The close-up enthusiast also revealed the next plan at the end: "I had planned to work with the Italian producers and went to Naples to observe the local underworld, but this plan was delayed. Next I have a big project to work with China. Another project is a partnership with a streaming platform in the United States. "Is it Netflix?" "This is not convenient to reveal!" The director laughed again, "You'll know when the time comes." ”