"Oliver's Dog (Gosh!!) This Yarrow" Director Joe Odagiri The charm of the script and editing, the difficult scenes, the production that has pros and cons [Director's Interview Vol.142]

Joe Odagiri wrote, directed, edited, and starred in the drama ``Oliver's Dog, (Gosh!!) This Yarrow''. It was overwhelmingly entertaining and extremely entertaining. Those who have seen Odagiri's film `` The Story of a Boatman '' (2019) may be surprised by the wide range of motion.

His well-calculated way of presenting the film, which determined the difference between movies and TV dramas, was far beyond that of a new director. Odagiri is already more of a ``director'' than he or those around him imagine, and he may already have the essence of directing in his hands. I can't help but feel like I can feel a glimpse of that from every word I heard this time.

How did Joe Odagiri create ``Oliver's dog (Gosh!!) this yarrow''?

Index

• The “freedom” of the script is appealing.
• Staff who supported us
• The significance of doing the script and editing yourself
• Differences between film and television, editing
• It is better for a work to have mixed reviews.
• Overflowing favorite works

The “freedom” of the script is appealing.

Q: How did you get approached to direct this drama?

Odagiri: This drama was produced by the same producer who produced ``Jijo Keisatsu Hajimashita, '' and during filming, he said, ``I want to make something interesting.'' Around that time, the first movie I made, ``The Story of a Boatman,'' was being released, and I started thinking that I wanted to make something new in a completely different direction.

Up until now, I've been particular about movies, but since we're living in an era where people are moving away from television, I felt like I wanted to try my hand at making a drama series, so I decided to pick one out of the projects I had in mind that could easily become a drama. is. That was the beginning.

Q: Where did the idea for a “police dog” come from?

Odagiri: There are many police dramas every season, but I felt that in order to create a different personality than before, we needed a different spice. That's why I thought it would be a good idea to include a police dog. I thought that by including an animal's perspective, I could depict human deeds objectively.

"Oliver's Dog (Gosh!!) This Yarrow" Copyright NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.

Q: Mr. Odagiri also wrote the script, and there are quite a lot of characters and there is an element of suspense. It must have been difficult to put it all together.

Odagiri: Of course, giving birth is painful, but I love writing scripts. I find the "freedom" when writing appealing. After all, writing is infinitely free, isn't it? It has great appeal as an expression. There is a premise that the reader's imagination will help them.

There are so many things I want to do in a screenplay, and it's certainly difficult to summarize them, but writing a screenplay takes time, and as long as you have a solid blueprint in the beginning, all you have to do is write what you like. .

Q: How long did it take to complete the script?

Odagiri: It took about a year to complete all three episodes. I wrote the first episode with a lot of energy, but by the time I was about to write the second episode, the coronavirus pandemic hit and I wasn't in the mood for it. Due to my work as an actor, I wasn't able to write much after that, but I kept writing little by little and before I knew it, it felt like a year had passed.

Q: It was interesting to see Ippei (Sosuke Ikematsu) complaining about Oliver's vulgar comments. It was as if Ippei was a spokesperson for NHK, but was that something you were conscious of when creating the lines? 

Odagiri: That's right (lol). There was actually a request from NHK that they wanted the expressions to be a little softer, and there are some scenes where we used that as the dialogue. So I'm really becoming a spokesperson (lol). However, the interaction between the two is the basis of the fun of this drama, so I felt that we should cherish that interaction.

Staff who supported us