"Small, Slow but Steady" Director Sho Miyake x Yukino Kishii For Keiko to be Keiko [Director's Interview Vol.271]

Pure and straight. The image of Keiko pumping her fist despite her worries and hesitations seems similar to director Sho Miyake and Yukino Kishii, who are facing this movie. Yukino Kishii who exists as Keiko, the people around her who support her (Tomokazu Miura, Masaki Miura, Shinichiro Matsuura, Himi Sato), the atmosphere and texture captured by 16mm film, and the light and shadow. There is nothing weird about it, and the straightforward, honest attitude makes this movie a masterpiece. How did director Miyake and Yukino Kishii make this movie? I spoke to him.

“Small, Slow but Steady” Synopsis

Keiko (Yukino Kishii), who cannot lie and is not good at smiling, is born with a hearing impairment and cannot hear in both ears. She trains every day at a small boxing gym in a downtown area that is undergoing redevelopment, and continues to stand in the ring as a professional boxer. Her mother worries about her, asking, ``How long do you plan on continuing?'' Feelings that cannot be expressed in words begin to accumulate in her heart. One day, after not being able to write a letter to the president in which she wrote, ``I would like to take a break,'' Keiko learns that the gym will be closed, and her heart begins to move.

Index

• Although there are not many side-by-side pictures, the face leaves an impression.
• Exist as Keiko
• Heading to the shoot, heading to the match
• She created an environment for me to be Keiko.

Although there are not many side-by-side pictures, the face leaves an impression.

Q: Anyway, Mr. Kishii's facial expressions are impressive and captivating. I felt that there were a lot of drawings that were close together, but I wonder if that was something you were conscious of.

Miyake: Kishii-san was present as Keiko with her whole body, so the photographer and I, Yuta Tsukinaga, took the stance of ``trying to capture as much of her whole body as possible.'' However, as the scene progressed, there were many moments where I felt like I really wanted to capture a scene up close, and at those times I simply followed my feelings.

Kishii: Still, there aren't that many close-up paintings, right?

Miyake: Well, I don't think there are many. However, if it leaves an impression that ``I saw Keiko with many different expressions,'' that would be a great thing.

“Small, Slow but Steady” ©2022 “Small, Slow but Steady” Movie Production Committee/COMME DES CINÉMAS

Many movies and TV dramas basically feature shots that capture more than the upper body, and it has become commonplace to take shots of the face. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that, but since there's a star in the movie, I'd like to see Tom Cruise's face up close (lol). However, I don't think that just taking pictures of Mr. Kishii's face all the time won't always show the best thing, so when there was a major change, I made sure not to miss out on Mr. Kishii's face.

Kishii: Was his face that impressive?

Miyake: I was drawn to it. I'm sure many of you will be drawn to Keiko's face first when you see the poster, even though it shows her whole body. I think Mr. Kishii is a truly rare actor who can lead a movie in that way.

Exist as Keiko