"A Certain Man" Director Kei Ishikawa I had the idea of ​​"making a Japanese movie" [Director's Interview Vol.263]

The idea of ​​``Let's make a Japanese movie''

Q: This photo shoot is for Ryuto Kondo, who is joining us for the first time. Please tell us about the history of staffing.

Ishikawa: Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it wasn't very realistic to invite Piotr (Niemyski), who I always ask to be the cinematographer, from Poland. Up until now, I've been making movies from the perspective of a Polish cameraman, and for better or for worse, I really liked how the atmosphere seemed to be lifted from reality. But this time, I wanted to take a picture that had its feet firmly on the ground and had a smell of earth. In order to capture the smell of wood in Miyazaki, the industrial feel of iron in Yokohama, and the unique atmosphere of Ikaho, I think it's best to use a domestic photographer. When I think about it, I think it's probably Mr. Kondo now. There's also the fact that Mukai wrote the script.

Q: Since Mr. Kondo was in charge of the cinematography, it felt quite different from Ishikawa's previous works. How do you feel about it?

Ishikawa: Working with Mr. Kondo also means that we want to create a different feel than before, so it will be a problem if the impression doesn't change (lol). Even so, I think what remains is what remains unwavering for me. I have photographed various themes so far, so I think this work was very meaningful in terms of confirming my core.

“A Certain Man” ©2022 “A Certain Man” Production Committee

Q: While watching this film, I was reminded of classic Japanese mystery blockbusters such as `` Sand Vessel '' and `` Proof of Humanity .'' Is there a part of you that you are conscious of?

Ishikawa: That's right. I was very happy to see the name of the movie now. The great mystery works of the time, such as `` The Sand Bowl '', `` The Proof of Humanity '', and `` The Straits of Hunger '', were meant to be entertaining, but they also depicted society in a proper way. I really wanted to do something like that. Up until now, my intention has been to create something that doesn't exist in Japanese movies, but this time I had the opposite idea of ​​``making a Japanese movie.''

Q: Is that because this is a Shochiku movie?

Ishikawa: There was a bit of that too. It wasn't that I wanted to do " Gugyoroku " again, so I was wondering what would be different. When I previously shot an omnibus film called ``Ten Years Japan'' (18), I spoke with Hirokazu Kore-eda, who was the general supervisor, and I found out that Mr. Kore-eda regularly changed his staff and cameramen. This is also to prevent getting stuck in a rut. When I heard that Mr. Kore-eda was intentionally doing things like self-innovation, I wondered what I could change. It's also important that it was a time when I was thinking about such things.

Q: I once heard a memorable quote from a film director: ``Falling into reduced reproduction.'' Hearing what you just said reminded me of that.

Ishikawa: When people ask me, ``Would you like to make it into a movie?'' and I ask, ``Why did you choose me?'' they often say, ``Because the art is amazing.'' When I listened carefully, I realized that it seemed like Piotr, a Polish guy, was coming to me because he wanted me to take a picture. There was a time when I was flooded with such requests. In that sense, I wanted to work with a Japanese photographer and take a closer look at my direction and what I would create.

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Director/Editor: Kei Ishikawa

Born in 1977, from Aichi Prefecture. Studied directing at the Polish National Film University. In addition to being selected for the Venice International Film Festival's Orizzonti Competition, his 2017 release ``Gugyoroku'' also won the Shindo Kaneto Silver Award, the Yokohama Film Festival, and the New Director Award at the Japan Film Professional Awards. His musical youth drama ``Bees and Distant Thunder'' (2019), a live-action film adaptation of Riku Onda's masterpiece bestseller, won the Japan Film Award at the Mainichi Film Competition and the Japan Academy Award for Outstanding Film. There are also ``Arc'' (21), a film adaptation of the original work by world-renowned science fiction author Ken Liu, and the short story ``Point'' (17).

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

"A certain man"

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Distribution: Shochiku

©2022 “A Certain Man” Production Committee