“The Disappearance” Director Hiro Kano What is needed is an absolutely unwavering “feeling” [Director's Interview Vol.220]

David Fincher and Shunji Iwai

Q: What kind of movies do you want to make in the future?

Kano: I have about four scripts I'm writing for my next film, and I'm in talks with several people for each one. I can't say too much about the details, but I want to continue making films that express the weakness of the human heart.

Q: Last question: Which directors or films have influenced you? 

Kano: There are a lot of them (laughs). I've watched all of David Fincher's films so much that the tapes are worn out. Fincher originally worked on music videos and commercials, so even among Hollywood films, I have a special feeling for Fincher's work. I was particularly influenced by " Seven " (1995) and " Fight Club " (1999).

Other directors that have influenced me are Michael Haneke and Terry Gilliam. I've watched Haneke's 71 Fragments (1994) a fair number of times, and I learned a lot from the quiet madness in the long shots. I think Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys (1995) influenced me in terms of story and screenplay.

In Japan, it would be director Iwai Shunji's " Swallowtail Butterfly " (1996). I saw it when I was a child, and it has never left my mind since then, so I have definitely watched " Swallowtail Butterfly " over 100 times. Maybe even 200 times (laughs). It's a movie that taught me what a story is, and what a movie is. Also, among the works of my mentor, director Ishii Katsuhito, there is a work called "BLACK ROOM" (00 TV) from the "Yonimo Kimyo na Monogatari SMAP Special Edition," in which Kimura Takuya appears, and this work also had a huge influence on me. It was a work that surprised me that there were people in the world who could create such images.

I have also seen Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), Park Chan-wook's films, and Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder (2003) quite a few times. I am particularly interested in how Korean films create black. It's a mysterious kind of black that you don't see much in Japanese films.

Original story, director, scriptwriter, and editor: Hiro Kano

A film director, commercial director and scriptwriter affiliated with Nice Rainbow. He started his video production in London, England, and after returning to Japan, he studied under film and commercial director Katsuhito Ishii. He has been involved in various advertisements, films, dramas and music videos as a director, planner and scriptwriter, and has been involved in over 500 works to date. In 2014, "VIBRA" won the Excellence Award at the Yokohama HAPPYMUS!C Film Festival. In 2016, he participated as an assistant director in "GAMERA", a video commemorating the 50th anniversary of the birth of Gamera. He then made his film directorial debut with his first feature film, "Sono Shousatsu." His commercials include SEIYU's web movie "HANDMADE HOMETOWN", which has been highly praised at numerous overseas advertising awards, and his directed works have been attracting attention one after another.

Interview and text: Fumio Koda

Editorial staff and writer for CINEMORE. My favorite movies are ``The Goonies'' and ``Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.'' My recent favorites are 4K digitally remastered classics by Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu.

Photography: Kazunari Aoki

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