L/R15 “Nano Ai” “The cat ran away” Hideo Josada × Rikiya Imaizumi The fun of changing the script I wrote [Director's Interview Vol.195]

Did you write it with the director in mind?

Q: Considering that it's rated "R15+," were there any shared rules when writing the script?

Jyojo: There were no particular rules, but the premise was that it was "R15+". At first, there was talk of making something that was like a full-on pornography, but this time I was with Imaizumi-san. So I tried my best to write a romance movie. It seems like I usually write, but surprisingly I don't.

Q: Is this your first time doing "R15+" work?

Imaizumi: Previously, I had a project called "Youth H" and I shot an R-15 film called " Owari " (11). My debut feature film "Tama no Eiga " (10) was a documentary, so my next film "Owari" was my first fiction feature film. The plan was like, "As long as there's one scene, you can write whatever you want!" But in the end, I think there were about three scenes. After that, I also shot an omnibus called " Virgin " (12), which was also R-15. This is the first time since then.

Q: Was the script written with the person you were directing in mind?　

Jyojo: I left it all out there. I myself admire Imaizumi a little, so I said I would write something that was similar to Imaizumi. On the other hand, I remember telling Imaizumi, "You don't have to be too conscious of me being the director." Imaizumi has always portrayed the bitterness of love, so I didn't want him to change that.

“The cat ran away” ©2021 “The cat ran away” Film Partners

Imaizumi: When I first read the script that Jyojo-san wrote, I thought it reminded me of the "tangled story of a man and a woman" that I shot when I was doing short films, and I felt nostalgic and thought it was very much like me. On the other hand, I just handed over what I had written in my usual style and asked him to cook it up. I couldn't write it in a Jyojo-like way. It has Jyojo-san's own style.

Jyosada: There aren't many that are like me.

Imaizumi: No, but I think that the mysterious sense of euphoria and the atmosphere at the end are characteristic of Mr. Jyosada, and I even thought about writing about that.

Q: When I watched each of your works, I got the impression that you both wrote and directed them yourself. It didn't feel like you wrote scripts for each other and exchanged them.

Imaizumi: I think that was also because we revised the scripts that we received from each other. I think they were revising them to make it easier for me to work on them, so I wasn't like, "I don't want you to change that part," and I just left it up to them.

Jyosada: I'm actually glad that it doesn't feel like we exchanged scripts. While we were making it, I didn't think that the selling point of "Imaizumi-Jyosada collaboration" would come to the forefront so much, and I just wanted to make two good works.

Remote joint audition