There are things that will disappear if you don't shoot them now "Mochi" Director Mayumi Komatsu & Producer Takuya Oikawa [Director's Interview Vol.67]

An original story that carefully describes the lives of the people of Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture, based on the food culture of mochi that has been passed down there. The main character is Yuna, a third-year girl who attends a junior high school that is about to close. This story depicts the unique swinging emotions and growth of an adolescent girl, and what is surprising is that all the characters are played by real people. What was the intention behind this attempt to make people relive their own lives using fiction, which is as close to non-fiction as possible? We spoke to Director Mayumi Komatsu and Producer Takuya Oikawa, who created this movie, in two parts: the first half and the second half. Let's start with the first part: the shooting part.

Index

• What is now lost was there
• Contains something that must not be forgotten
• What was taken was the person's voice, not his performance.
• Scripts and filming that change daily
• Promise with Yuna

What is now lost was there

Q: I heard that you were originally planning to make a PR video to introduce ``Mochi'', a food culture of Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture, but how did you decide to make this movie?

Komatsu: There was certainly talk of a PR video, but in reality, that and the movie are completely different things. When creating the PR video, we interviewed local people about how to eat mochi and created several PR videos.

Apart from the interview with Mochi, I was personally interested in the small stories of daily life, memories of festivals and events, and connections with people that they talked about in small talk. After that, I continued to listen to the stories, kept the camera rolling, and simply said, ``Do you know someone who is interesting?'' That's how I was introduced to people, and before I knew it, I was connecting with a lot of people.

So, in the end, I ended up with Yuna Sato, a middle school student who appeared in the movie, and Minoru Homoda, who played the role of the grandfather, and I wrote a script that I wanted to turn into something later... It's like that. When I showed it to Mr. Oikawa to get his thoughts on the book, he said, ``I really want to do this!'' However, because we were missing so much of what we needed to make a video, we repeatedly declined the offer, saying, ``No matter how we think about it, we can't do this.''

After that, I faced a lot of conflict within myself and decided to tackle this project with all my might, but a big reason for this was that I was pushed by the passionate determination of Mr. Oikawa, who was originally from Ichinoseki.

Q: I see. So, as I listened to various people's stories, my desire to make it into a film grew stronger.

Komatsu: That's right. I work in Tokyo to create commercials, and in the past few years we've been communicating more and more via email, and we often end things there. As we pursue how to increase efficiency, including the speed of economic activity, it seems that we are hearing more and more sad stories. I felt a sense of discomfort as communication between people seemed to be becoming weaker.

At that time, when I came across the lives of the people of Ichinoseki, I realized that they all live their lives thinking about others. I felt that there were people who were firmly on the ground, or rather, who knew what was enough.

As I listened to their stories, I felt that everyone really understood things like people and people, and people and nature. The main filming location for the movie is Honedera Village, which is a rare place where the landscape has remained unchanged for nearly 800 years, as shown in the ``Mutsu Kokukoku Honeji Village Illustrated Map'' drawn in the Kamakura period. It is clear that they love and protect the land.

Especially since I lived in such a land, I could see a lot of light that was around me when I was a child, but has now been lost. That light is there as a matter of course, so I think it's something that people who live in that area can't see.

And I couldn't help but think that it was just a ray of light, just like the light that goes out without us noticing as we live our busy lives.

A long time ago, in Ichinoseki, there was a kagura dance called ``Chicken Dance,'' and there was a school that revived it, and when I went there for an interview, I met Yuna-chan, who plays the lead role. did. I was standing alone in a Kagura costume in the middle of a large schoolyard. It looked really cool, and with its fearless and rebellious eyes, it felt like I was looking at a wild animal. Anyway, it was beautiful and had a sturdy feel to it.

Also, even though she is still in middle school, she knows a lot about the local area. I guess it's passed down and taught from generation to generation. ``When the shape of the snow on that mountain changes to the shape of a fox, it's rice planting time.'' I thought that I was living with the seasons.

This is not just a story of Ichinoseki, but even if you look around Japan, there are many things that connect people with nature and time, such as traditional performing arts and culture, stories and songs heard from grandfathers. I believe that all of these things are like ``simple codes'' left behind by our ancestors in order for people to survive.

The hidden meaning behind it is very important, but it is difficult to see. There are things that don't suit the times, so if we don't try to preserve them, they will definitely disappear. If we turn a blind eye to this because it's a hassle, will future generations live in a world where they don't even know the meaning of this ``easy code''? Thinking about that made me sad.

So, if I were to piece together the stories I heard from people in Ichinoseki and the various things I saw there and preserve them as a video, even if many things were to disappear in the future, it would be an opportunity for something to be revived. That's what I thought. Just as Yuna's school revived Kagura, I thought that images could play a similar role.

However, is it okay for me to say this? Not to mention, I was left alone with a local who had never filmed before, and what would happen to my life after taking time off from work and working out the budget? When I thought about it, it was all terrifying. Also, I didn't feel like I was shooting it as my own work. When I think about it now, I feel like I was forced to take a photo of me, or that I was asked to take a photo of me.

Contains something that must not be forgotten