Taiga, Joe Odagiri, and Masayoshi Tominaga, the live-action version of "Pumpkin and Mayonnaise", what are the musicians of the three men?

What is Tominaga's work that continues to depict obsession and dependence?

Director Tominaga continues to make films in a variety of genres, from feature films to documentaries, but perhaps he is drawn to the human relationships he depicts that always feature issues of dependency and obsession.

In his debut work, " Pavilion Salamander ," the story begins with the Ninomiya family, who have gained various vested interests by managing "Kinjiro," a giant salamander that was once exhibited at the Paris World Expo and is a national treasure, whether real or fake. In other words, it is a story of how the Ninomiya family, who are under a spell over Kinjiro, break free from him. This also relates to the story of Tsuchida's separation from dependence in "Pumpkin and Mayonnaise," who is fixated on Seiichi's dream of becoming a successful band member and devoting his life to creating songs.

"Pumpkin and Mayonnaise" (C) Kiriko Uobai/Shodensha, 2017 "Pumpkin and Mayonnaise" Production Committee

When a man plays the lead role, the obsession sometimes takes on the appearance of obsessive love. In " Ranbou to Taitei, " a film adaptation of a play published by Yukiko Motoya in 2005, a couple who are strangers but are falsely called "brother and sister," are tied to a room in a form of "confinement," and maintain a codependent relationship in which they spy on each other and are spied on, but their relationship falls apart in an instant with the intervention of a couple who move in next door. In " Pandora's Box ," a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Osamu Dazai, the film depicts the soaring hearts of those confined in a tuberculosis sanatorium, and in " Rowling ," the film carefully depicts the sour relationship between a former teacher and his student, whose twisted feelings from their high school days smolder in a provincial city, only to become even more complicated as adults.

In our lives, we all tend to cling to things that others would find strange and make us wonder, "Why are you so obsessed with that?", but in Tominaga's works, this clinginess is very deep. That's why the moment you are released from that clinginess is so satisfying. In "Pumpkin and Mayonnaise," Tsuchida's drifting heart is properly purified at the end. This is largely due to the power of Seiichi's music. This was the first time that Tominaga's work had directed such a straightforward and gentle purification, so I thought that a big change had come over Director Tominaga, but it seems that this is not the case. In his new work " A Dynamite Graffiti ," which will be released next year, he directs the life of Akira Suei, a famous editor who created an era with erotic magazines, while giving up on the world and carrying the memory of his mother who committed suicide with dynamite, with a lot of exaggeration. Director Tominaga 's ruggedness, who does not easily go down the refreshing route, is thrilling.

Text: Yuka Kinbara (Kinbara Yuka)

Movie journalist. Currently writing for many media such as ``Kinema Junpo'', ``Soen'', ``Kettle'', and ``Haha no Tomo''. Her books include ``Broken Girl'' (Film Art Publishing), which examines girlhood and violence in movies. He has also contributed to ``100 American Films of the 1990s'' (Gijutsu Shimbunsha) and ``Asian Film Forest'' (Movie Map of the New Century) (Sakushasha). His works include ``Actors File Satoshi Tsumabuki'', ``Actors File Masatoshi Nagase'' (both published by Kinema Junposha), and ``Legendary Film Art Directors x Yohei Taneda'' (Space Shower Network), for which he was in charge of long interviews and composition.

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Pumpkin and Mayonnaise

Distribution: S.D.P.

(C) Kiriko Uobai/Shodensha/2017 “Pumpkin and Mayonnaise” Production Committee

Original story: Kiriko Yumeno "Pumpkin and Mayonnaise" (Shodensha Feel Comics)