"Winny" Director Yusaku Matsumoto x Masahiro Higashide Making a movie based on a real incident [Director's Interview Vol.292]

A solid adult drama, just like " Marusa no Onna " (1987). Based on a real incident, the film "Winny" is overwhelmingly entertaining and powerful. Director Matsumoto Yusaku was in his 20s when the film was shot. This fact is surprising. That is how well-crafted the film is as an "adult film." The role of real-life programmer Kaneko Isamu is played by Higashide Masahiro. From his appearance to his knowledge of programming, Kaneko himself is present on the screen, both in body and mind.

We spoke to Yusaku Matsumoto and Masahiro Higashide about how they confronted this incident and turned it into a film.

Summary of "Winny"

In 2002, developer Kaneko Isamu (Higashide Masahiro) developed an innovative software called "Winny" that allows easy file sharing, and released a trial version on "2chan". "Winny" appeared like a comet, and was a system that allowed users to directly exchange data with each other, and it quickly gained market share. However, behind the scenes, a large amount of movies, The Game, music, etc. were illegally uploaded, and many young people started downloading them, gradually developing into a social problem. As those who illegally copied were arrested one after another, developer Kaneko was also suspected of aiding and abetting copyright violation, and was arrested in 2004. Just as lawyer Dan Toshimitsu (Miura Takahiro), who is knowledgeable about cybercrime, said, "I will defend the developer if he is arrested," he received a report of developer Kaneko's arrest and quickly took on the defense, forming a defense team. He and Kaneko argued in court that the police's arrest was unjust, but they were found guilty in the first trial... However, the threads of fate intersect and the events that follow develop into something that will shake the world.

Index

• Created faithfully to the facts
• How to become Isamu Kaneko
• The vast amount of material used to create the character
• Responsibility to make films based on facts
• Fincher and Sorkin

Created faithfully to the facts

Q: Although it is based on a true story, it didn't take a documentary approach and instead seemed to be all about entertainment.

Matsumoto: I wanted to be as faithful as possible to the facts, so I tried not to overdo it with entertainment. But I'm really glad that people took it that way. The basics were faithful to the facts, but for the parts that no one knows, like when Kaneko spent time alone, we created our own image of Kaneko.

Q: Since there are almost no video materials of Kaneko remaining, Higashide-san seems to have prepared for the role by talking to people who knew Kaneko-san. What was your goal in creating the role?

Higashide: There was no goal. The role is born when you stand in front of the camera and act. So the sense of a goal may be different. Anyway, before going to the scene, I talked with the director and heard about the contents of the script and the meaning of the scene. I think I talked with the director quite a bit.

Matsumoto: I was very grateful that Higashide-san joined the project with such strong feelings. I felt like I had a lot of discussions with everyone, including Higashide-san, Takahiro Miura-san, and lawyer Dan-sensei, and created the film. It felt like I was groping around for the right answer. They even held a mock trial, which was a recreation of the trial at the time, so we were able to film in a good environment.

“Winny” (C)2023 Movie “Winny” Production Committee

Q: How exactly was the mock trial conducted?

Matsumoto: We had the lawyers recreate the trial exactly as it was written, and then we had Higashide and Miura put that into practice.

Higashide: Watching the trial from the side, you can understand the situation at the time. When I asked Professor Dan about Kaneko's condition, he told me in detail, "He waved his hands and denied the prosecution's criticism," "His facial expression showed his feelings right away," and so on. Professor Dan was always on set, renting a car and a spot cooler at his own expense to cool down the hot set. It was like he was in the production department at this point (laughs).

Matsumoto: Many of the ideas were born from casual conversations with Dr. Dan and others. Dr. Dan is from Osaka, so he talked about various things in a casual manner. So, instead of a rigid format like an interview, I was able to casually ask, "What do you do in this situation?" In this way, I think I was able to be quite flexible, inserting the words of the actual people involved during filming.

How to become Isamu Kaneko