A happy “encounter” of novels, music, and movies Little Nights, Little Love”

Rikiya Imaizumi x Kenichi Suzuki x Yuta Tsukinaga, a talented production team

As mentioned earlier, the production company Dove, which had already worked on four films based on Isaka's original works, will begin work on this project in earnest in 2013. When deciding on a director, Isaka recommended to Dove the up-and-coming Rikiya Imaizumi, who was the director and screenwriter of his favorite romance group comedy `` Koppidoi Neko '' (2012). It was also a plus that Dove happened to be participating in the production of Imaizumi's `` Hozukisanke no Aneki '' (14) at the time, and when Imaizumi was approached to direct ``Little Nights, Little Love'', he readily accepted.

The script was written by Kenichi Suzuki, who has a proven track record in adapting Isaka's original works. While attending Seijo University, he met Yoshihiro Nakamura, his senior, and wrote the scenarios for many of Nakamura's films, including `` Duck and Duck's Coin Locker '' and `` Golden Slumber ,'' as well as works by masters such as Shusuke Kaneko and Hideo Nakata. This is the scriptwriter who participated.

“Little Nights, Little Love” (c) 2019 “Little Nights, Little Love” Production Committee

Among the six short stories that Suzuki originally wrote, ``Eine Kleine'' depicts the encounter between Sato, who takes a survey on the street, and Saki, who is looking for a job, and ``Eine Kleine,'' in which hairdresser Minako falls in love with Manabu, the younger brother of a regular customer she only speaks to on the phone. ``Light Heavy'', ``Looks Like'', in which high school student Mio invites her classmate Kazuto to find the bicycle parking sticker thief, and Winston Ono, the first Japanese to become the world heavyweight boxing champion, takes on the title 10 years later. Restructured with a focus on the 4 stories of ``Nachtmusik'' that will be tried again. In addition, we have added a new story about Sato and Saki 10 years later that is original to the movie, completing a story that interweaves the subtleties of the hearts of men and women and the unique bonds of family.

Photographed by Yuta Tsukinaga. He has been involved in many films directed by Masayoshi Tominaga, with whom he studied at the Nihon University College of Art's Department of Film Studies, and his career has led him to join groups such as Shuichi Okita, Natsuki Seta, and Suzuki Matsuo, giving him a sense of similarities with Kenichi Suzuki. The title of this film means "little night music" in German (derived from Mozart's famous piece), and the film has an outstanding sense of capturing the actors' charm with natural lighting, including the particularly important night scenes. In addition, the technique uses elegant camera work to enliven the drama. They effectively supported director Imaizumi, who looks back on his own work and says, ``I've only made movies where people sit and talk.''

“Little Nights, Little Love” (c) 2019 “Little Nights, Little Love” Production Committee

Kazuyoshi Saito, who created the opportunity for the original novel to be created, also contributed to the film by writing and composing the theme song `` Small Night '' and as a music producer. ``Small Night'' is sung on an acoustic guitar by street musician ``Saito-san'' (played by musician Mataichi Koda) in the film, and a version sung by Saito himself during the end credits creates a lasting impression.

It is said that it was Saito's idea that the background music that is an arrangement of `` Very Very Strong ~Eine Kleine~ '' is played in one scene. Saito's song was born from the conversational phrase "Very Very Strong" written by Isaka in the short story "Eine Kleine", and the melody of the same song echoes in the background of the movie where this line is spoken, making it a continuous happy story. I'm sure there are many fans of Isaka and Saito who are delighted with the collaboration.

A diverse cast playing a great ensemble