"Minna no Uta" Directed by Takashi Shimizu Scary rather than Surprise [Director's Interview Vol.341]

More scary than surprise

Q: The tension does not ease as you are alternately attacked by the ``disgusting feeling'' when you hear music and voices, and the ``surprising performance'' when Sana suddenly appears. Is that kind of overall structure created at the screenplay stage?

Shimizu: The script is just a blueprint, and on set it often doesn't turn out as creepy as expected. I like Scary more than Surprise. I feel like the eeriness and the gradual tension is somehow more elegant. The audience gets used to the surprises of "It's about to come, it's coming, it's here". But for some reason, every producer wants me to come up with an easy-to-understand haunted house-like surprise (lol). But it's a surprise, not a fear. Flashy and exciting surprises are easy to understand and important, but honestly I feel like any director could shoot them. Can you capture a stagnant atmosphere or a dangerously tense atmosphere? I feel like the director's ability to create horror shows his individuality and sensibilities. I want to create an atmosphere where I'm as nervous as possible and think, ``Huh? That's weird, this is terrible!''

Q: Are you conscious of that in your editing?

Shimizu: That's right. Even if you change just a few frames in editing, you'll be like, "Wow, that's scary!" When it comes to sound, sound effects can change the impression, so things that you couldn't think of during the scripting stage become easier to see in the editing process. There are many producers who want to use loud and shocking sound effects, but it's important to have a sense of tension and balance between the front and back.

“Minna no Uta” ©2023 “Minna no Uta” Production Committee

Q: I felt the influence of the movie ``Seven'' (1995), such as the opening credits and Makita Sports' detective work. There was also the influence of ``The Shining'' (1980), but was that something you were conscious of?

Shimizu: Yes, there is. People who know me will think of `` The Shining '' just by looking at the hallway of a hotel, and it's one of my favorite works, so the kid in the hallway was thinking of `` The Shining ,'' and that scene reminded me of `` The Shining.'' It's a homage to "Shock " (77). There are many things that are woven together. The opening may also be influenced by `` Seven '', and the noise-like sound may also be the same.

Makita Sports' style is aimed at the feeling of an old man detective from the Showa era. When matching costumes with Makita-san, I asked him to make it look like, ``This bastard is trying to put on a good look.'' (laughs) Makita also said, ``I see! So how about something like this?'' and we worked together to create the character, including putting on a hat.

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Director: Takashi Shimizu

Belongs to Booster Project. Born in 1972, from Gunma Prefecture. He studied theater at university and worked as an assistant director before making his directorial debut in 1998. The ``Ju-on'' series (1999-2006), an original project by the original idea/screenwriter/director, was made into a Hollywood remake after being made into a V-cinema and theatrical version. This is the first Japanese director to reach No. 1 in the US (box office). His recent works include the ``Terror Village Series'' trilogy, including ``Inunaki Village'' (2020), ``Jukai Village'' (21), and ``Ushikubi Village'' (22). In addition to horror, his works include ``Kiki's Delivery Service'' (2014), ``I Can Hear Blue Hearts/A Boy's Poem'' (2017), and ``Homunculus'' (21). The planetarium science film ``The Man from the 9th Dimension'' (2016) is currently being shown at Miraikan. This work is the second work to be released this year, following ``Kikaijima'', which was released on June 16th.

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

"Minna's Uta"

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Distribution: Shochiku

©2023 “Minna no Uta” Production Committee