"Fukuda Village Incident" Director Tatsuya Mori A feature film made by a true documentary artist brings out the dark side of Japan [Director's Interview Vol.349]

I want to draw the perpetrator anyway.

Q: After making documentaries for many years, what change in your mindset made you want to make a drama?

Mori: I've always wanted to do it. Before I entered the TV industry, I did stage work, and when I was a student, I shot 8mm films. I joined a production company called Telecom Japan with the intention of making TV dramas. But after I joined, I was told, "We're a documentary company." I didn't know what to do because I had no interest in documentaries, but I was sent to Hong Kong and Thailand as an AD right away, and it was interesting. I went to Kowloon City in Hong Kong and the slums in Thailand, which you can't go to on a tourist trip, and had experiences that you normally can't have. Even when I saw the editing process, I thought it wasn't much different from a feature film. So I thought it would be interesting, and my documentary life began, but after that, most of the offers I received were for documentaries, and before I knew it, 30 years had passed. So I thought it was about time to make a feature film.

Q: "The Fukuda Village Incident" is an ensemble drama that depicts the incident from the perspectives of many people, including the perpetrators and victims. Why did you come up with such a multi-layered structure?

Mori: During a meeting with the scriptwriting team, I told them that I wanted to portray the perpetrators. In other words, the residents of Fukuda Village, hundreds of people, were perpetrators. I said that I wanted to portray their daily lives and their emotions. So, Toshimichi Saeki took the lead in writing a rough draft, and we discussed it and revised it many times.

Q: I believe the film is divided into two parts. The first half focuses on the human relationships in Fukuda Village, including the sexual relationships between couples and men and women. I heard that there was a difference of opinion between Director Mori and the scriptwriting team on this part.

Mori: I thought the portrayal of the villagers was too much, including the sexual scenes. I was also bothered by the explanatory lines. I was the one who said I wanted to portray the perpetrators in detail, but I didn't think it was necessary to go that far.

“Fukuda Village Incident” © “Fukuda Village Incident” Project 2023

Q: It's true that when I was watching the first half, I felt anxious about where the movie was going. But in the second half, the process leading up to the massacre was depicted in detail. I thought the depiction of everyday life up until that point was very vivid.

Mori: That's one way of looking at it.

Q: The difference was shocking, and I wondered if Coach Mori was aiming for that effect.

Mori: ...I don't mean to complain, but I wasn't in control of the movie from the first half to the middle. But movies are interpreted by the viewer. Some people say, "The contrast was sharp," while others say, "I wanted to get up in the first half."

Q: In another interview you said that it was difficult to maintain the right distance from the actors, but does the director give very detailed instructions about the acting?

Mori: First, I ask them to do it once, and if there is any discomfort, I ask them to do it again. If I can clearly see the reason for the discomfort, I will instruct them to "do it like this". But take 1 is usually the best. Even if you do multiple takes, it doesn't get much better. This time in particular, all the actors had prepared their roles well before filming, so I didn't have much to say.

Performing a massacre scene