Miwa Nishikawa and Atsuhiro Yamashita, two directors talk about "Movies and Whiskey" Part 1 Love Cinema. Love Whiskey.

Presented by SUNTORY

Why do movies and whiskey go so well together? This amber-colored drink has appeared in many movies from all over the world. Impressive whiskey scenes, actors and situations that go well with whiskey, cool ways to drink whiskey that you can't help but imitate while watching the movie...time flies when you start talking about it. We wanted to find out more about the mysterious relationship between movies and whisky, so we invited directors Miwa Nishikawa and Atsuhiro Yamashita to talk over a glass of whiskey. It will be delivered in two parts. Let's start with the first part.

Index

• ``Realism Inn'' and ``A Wonderful World'' featuring whiskey
• Actors who look good with whiskey
• Kurt Russell and Whiskey
• Cool ways to drink whiskey in movies

``Realism Inn'' and ``A Wonderful World'' featuring whiskey

Q: I understand that you both like whiskey, but do you drink it often?

Nishikawa: I don't know much about it, but I drink it often.

Yamashita: Do you have any whiskey at home?

Nishikawa: Yes.

Yamashita: That's right. I don't keep a lot of it at home, but when I'm filming or writing a script, I often drink alone in my hotel room. The other day, I went to a rural area for just three days, but I bought a small bottle of ice and carbonated water and drank it every night in my hotel room. That was kind of fun.

Director Atsuhiro Yamashita

Q: In director Yamashita's `` Realism no Inn '' (2004), there was a scene in which a small bottle of whiskey was brought into the inn and the main characters tried to drink it.

Yamashita: Yes, it was exactly like that. That scene was originally an episode in the original story. I'm not sure if it was whiskey in the original story or if it was changed to whiskey during the scripting stage. The screenwriter, Mukai (Kosuke), loves alcohol and drinks a lot of whisky, so he may have chosen a small bottle like this for two young people to take with him. At that time, I didn't drink much alcohol.

Nishikawa: Huh, was that so?

Yamashita: It's not that I don't like it, but there was a culture where seniors forced me to drink, so I felt that I wasn't good at it. But Mukai loved whiskey and drank it often since he was a student, and before I knew it, I started liking it too (lol). Among my own works, I also shot a whiskey scene in `` Hard Core '' (18). The scene where the main character asks for the bottle of whiskey he keeps at the bar. This is based on what was in the original work.

Nishikawa: I introduced whiskey in my latest work, `` Subarashiki Sekai '' (2020). The main character, played by Koji Yakusho, is having trouble living in Tokyo, so he is drawn to Kitakyushu, where his old brother and boss (Hakuryu) is located, but he finds himself in the back of a luxury car driven by his brother who came to pick him up. Whiskey is served at your seat. I think the way I drank it was with soda. I remember clearly taking a shot of the ice cubes spinning around in a glass due to the vibrations of the car. Whiskey in a glass decanter, snacks and glasses lined up. In reality, he is already on the decline, but he is still living a good life and is able to provide top-class hospitality.It is used as a prop, like an icon, for the boss to show off.

Yamashita: After all, whiskey has the image of being a cool adult drink.

Actors who look good with whiskey