"The Wonderful World" Director Miwa Nishikawa I felt Ryuzo Saki's gaze throughout "Identification Book" [Director's Interview Vol.105]

When you look at the people passing through the city, each person's story emerges. For some reason, that was the only thing that came to mind as soon as I left the screening room after watching ``Subarashizuki Sekai.'' The next day, I headed to the bookstore, where I picked up Ryuzo Saki's novel `` Identification Book '', which was the basis for the idea, and read it in one sitting.

At the end of ``Identification Book'', there is an afterword by director Nishikawa entitled ``On Republishing'', in which he explains the reason why he decided to make a film based on his encounter with this novel, and explains the main character Yamakawa (his name in the movie is San). Above) and his thoughts on Ryuzo Saki were written carefully, concisely, and passionately. For someone who experienced both the movie and the original novel at the same time, this comment was more than enough to make sense.

Yes, the essential things that I wanted to ask Director Nishikawa were written there perfectly...

Index

• My favorite cameraman, Norimichi Kasamatsu
• film or digital
• Character formation brought about by art meetings
• Attention to sound, from train sounds to dialects
• "The king is naked!"
• What does the weather do?
• Ryuzo Saki's gaze

My favorite cameraman, Norimichi Kasamatsu

Q: After watching the movie, I read the ``identity book'' and found that director Nishikawa had contributed almost everything I wanted to ask in the ``afterword.''

Nishikawa: I guess so (lol).

Q: So, in this interview, I would like to ask you about the technical aspects of film production.

Nishikawa: Oh, that's good. Understood.

Q: First, let's talk about the shooting. The cameraman this time was Norimichi Kasamatsu. I get the impression that Nishikawa's films use different cameramen for each film, but are there any criteria for deciding the staff?

Nishikawa: As a cameraman, you want to choose someone who is a good fit for the work. In the last episode of ` `Long Excuse '' (2016), there were some small children with no acting experience, so even if they weren't ready, the team was used to a compact style of ``I want to turn the camera now!'' I asked Yutaka Yamazaki, who has a background in documentaries, to come up with the idea.

Mr. Kasamatsu is someone I have admired for a long time, and people of my generation have seen many of his works in the works of directors Junji Sakamoto and Sosuke Ishii (Gakuryu). Director Akira Ogata's work was also very nice. The way the lenses are selected and the camera work has a characteristic feature that is typical of feature films, and the images of men are captured in a seductive and attractive manner, and the movies that I thought were good at the theater were usually Mr. Kasamatsu's. I feel like I often see the name in the end credits.

©Ryuzo Saki/2021 “Subarashiki Sekai” Production Committee

I also thought that I would like to work with him someday, but I thought that Mr. Kasamatsu was a very strict type of person, and I wondered if he would do something like my work...The stronger my admiration for him, the more I was afraid of him. There was.

Around that time, director Lee Sang-il approached me at a party and said, ``Why don't you work with Kasamatsu-san?I think it would go really well with Nishikawa-san's style.'' When I replied, ``No, I'd like to do that, but...'', he said, ``I think he's definitely the best photographer in Japan, and I'm sure Mr. Nishikawa would be happy to do it if he approached me.'' I did.

Since there is only one director at a job site, there are actually very few opportunities for directors to interact with each other. That gave me a lot of support. Someday, when I make a hard-core movie with a male protagonist, I'll ask Mr. Kasamatsu to do it. So this time I came up with a perfect topic, so I said, ``Oh, this is Mr. Kasamatsu!'' and offered it.

film or digital