The love between teacher and student that created ``The Spy's Wife.'' Interview with Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Ichi Nohara [Director's Interview Vol.84]

The “love for director Kurosawa” among his successors is unstoppable.

Q: (laughs). The love that Mr. Hamaguchi and Mr. Nohara have for Mr. Kurosawa is very evident, and even in Mr. Kurosawa's past works, he has had many opportunities to work with younger actors. I would love to hear your thoughts on this part...

Kurosawa: I don't have the idea of ​​``Let's raise young people!'', but I think of people who are talented, trustworthy, and good people (lol)...for various reasons, when I'm around them. We've brought in some happy people.

But this time, it's the exact opposite. The younger kids brought me in. I never thought a day like this would come. I've been involved in various commercial films, but it's rare that such a delicious project comes along.

Hamaguchi: Well done, Nohara-kun.

Nohara: Well...I'm really grateful that you said that. I'm glad I had the courage to email Tokyo University of the Arts (lol).

Kurosawa: Nohara is a director, screenwriter, and also has the ability to produce. I was surprised. Producers are also gathered through their connections.

Hamaguchi: But everyone came together primarily because they were Kurosawa-san's fans. I imagine that he was thinking, ``I want to have a bite of Kurosawa-san.'' Because I was like that myself.

Nohara: Everyone had a common understanding that they wanted Mr. Kurosawa to take pictures freely.

This interview was conducted online

Q: This is a bit off topic, but when director Kurosawa was filming Daguerreotype Woman (2016), a French-Belgian-Japanese co-production, the local staff were waiting for him and said, ``This is how Kurosawa would shoot!'' I remember an episode about that.

Kurosawa: You should try to keep it going for a long time. My junior colleagues who are active on the front lines will tell me, ``Please shoot it like that scene in that movie,'' even if I've forgotten something.

When I was filming ``Daguerreotype Woman,'' I was finally able to freely shoot outside because it was France! As I was thinking about this, the local staff told me, ``Naturally, the car driving scenes are created using the screen process (*a technique in which a screen is set up in the studio and a background image is projected onto it.In Kurosawa's works, the driving scenes are It's often used, isn't it?'' I was waiting for it.

Hamaguchi: (laughs).

Nohara: I said, ``I want you to take photos freely,'' but the fans' desires... (lol)

Q: As with this film, it's wonderful to see so many people come together and say, ``I want to make a movie with Mr. Kurosawa!'' and then try to ``make something good.''

Kurosawa: I myself have worked hard and taken on new challenges, and I am proud of myself for having accomplished so much. However, for that reason, it is not widely accepted (bitter smile).

Under such circumstances, people like me who think, ``If it were me, I would like to do something like this'' or ``I would like to be recognized for this'' approach me. Thanks to this opportunity, I was able to encounter perhaps the most widely known work of my career to date.

Director Kurosawa was amazed at the recording club's miracle work.