"Egoist" Director Daiji Matsunaga x Ryohei Suzuki x Hio Miyazawa One scene and one cut [Director's Interview Vol.280]

I don't dare to tell you what's wrong

Q: It seems like it took a while for the director to give the OK for the scene where the two of them meet at the hotel.

Matsunaga: That scene took at least five minutes from the time the door was opened to the end. It wasn't 30 seconds or even a minute.

Suzuki: What's more, it takes a long time for him to come knocking. I was filmed alone in the room, and the timing of his knock was different every time. I didn't have any particular instructions, so I was free to sit or stand as I pleased. I think it was something like, "Wait wherever you want, I'll come at some point."

Matsunaga: As long as the actor is ready when the "Ready, go!" command is called, that's fine. So, wherever Kosuke is sitting and what he's doing, that's up to you.

Suzuki: It's interesting, isn't it? It's the same as saying, "You're Kosuke now, aren't you?" It was a great honor to have them trust me as an actor. When that happens, I want to live up to their expectations, and I have high expectations of myself, to be able to produce something more realistic.

Miyazawa: That day was really tough for me. I couldn't reach something that I was satisfied with, and my irritation and frustration with myself grew stronger and stronger. It was really tough and I thought, "I can't take it anymore! I want to run away!" But the director told me, "Don't give up on yourself." If I had run away at that point, my job as an actor might have ended. I think it was a big day in my career because I was able to persevere and not give up.

Matsunaga: Most of the takes were very good, but there were a few points where I thought "this could have been a bit better...". I took multiple takes in order to fix that "little bit". But I don't tell them what's wrong. If I say "this is different", the actor will aim for that part and there's a chance that the rest will be neglected. I don't think there's a right answer in my mind, so if I say even a little bit, it can change depending on the situation. Also, since it's a two-person play, even if one person is good, the other person may not be, and vice versa. So in some cases, I blame it on the camera movement. That way the actor won't be conscious of the play. But what I really want to change is the part of the play. I thought a lot about that.

"Egoist" directed by Daiji Matsunaga

Suzuki: It must be tough being a director (laughs). It's really difficult to manipulate people's delicate psychology.

Matsunaga: But it was the two of them who made it possible. Normally, you can't keep doing one scene and one cut for so many takes. I'm really grateful. They both took on the challenge and found it interesting. We didn't want to compromise on either of us, thinking that we could bring out more, that we could make it even better. This scene in particular was important, so we couldn't just end it with "Well, it's okay." We were particular about the camera movement and were very persistent.

Q: What is the atmosphere like on set as you try and try again and again like that?

Matsunaga: It was surprisingly calm.

Suzuki: Everyone was calm and quiet, concentrating.

Matsunaga: Because we have seen what the actors are being asked to do, there is always a moment where we are like "We're betting on this one shot". We shoot with plenty of time, but once we start, we shoot for 5 to 10 minutes, so we need a lot of concentration. But this time, everyone knows how we're going to shoot, so when we get to the set in the morning, we check the flow for each scene and do the actual shoot without any tests. We just kept doing that over and over. You can't do it if you're not so calm. It felt like each person was there with their own responsibility.

Suzuki: What I was most grateful for was that they always tried not to disturb our feelings. They treated us very delicately even when we weren't filming, and created that kind of atmosphere by saying, "You can just stay in character even when the camera isn't rolling." There was no voice saying, "Yes! Now, stand there!" It started in a quiet environment with "Ready, start," and I was able to go straight into the play from the waiting state. It was a very grateful site.

What is an “egoist”?