"Young Strangers" Director Takuya Uchiyama and Hayato Isomura take on the challenge of "changing the protagonist" [Director's Interview Vol. 441]

Director Uchiyama Takuya, who left a strong impression with his independent film " Sasaki, in My Mind " (20), has finally made his commercial feature film debut. In "Young Strangers," starring Isomura Hayato, he portrays young people who try their best to live life despite being placed in an unreasonable environment where they have no hope for the future. While depicting a merciless reality, he has used cinematic techniques to create a story that gives a sense of hope. How did Director Uchiyama and Isomura Hayato create this film? We spoke to the two of them.

"Young Strangers" Synopsis

Kazama Ayato (Isomura Hayato) is working at a construction site during the day and at a karaoke bar opened by his parents at night, while paying off his late father's (Toyohara Kosuke) debts and caring for his mother Asami (Kirishima Reika), who suffers from a terminal illness. Ayato's younger brother Sohei (Fukuyama Shota) also lives with him, and while paying off his debts and caring for his mother, he follows in his father's footsteps and devotes himself to training every day as a mixed martial arts fighter. Despite being consumed by his suffocating life, Ayato wants to find a little happiness with his girlfriend Hinata (Kishii Yukino). However, on the night of a modest but happy party to celebrate the marriage of Ayato's best friend Yamato (Sometani Shota), their modest daily life is taken away by an unexpected act of violence.

This time, we've also released a video version of the interview! Please enjoy it too!

Index

• Share your everyday self
• Taking on the challenge of "changing the protagonist"
• Everyone is a "young stranger"

Share your everyday self

Q: This is your first time working with Mr. Isomura. Why did you offer him the role?

Uchiyama: The situation of this protagonist is difficult to grasp, so you need to use your imagination as you act. I thought I could entrust the role to him, seeing how Isomura-san usually acts. I asked him to do it half instinctively and half confidently, hoping to bring out his different expressions and acting than usual.

Q: Mr. Isomura, what was your impression when you read the script?

Isomura: Ayato disappears in the middle of the story. Even if I had thought of it, there hadn't been any movie that tried it. I was interested in the fact that he had made it into a reality. Also, I thought it was nice that he disappeared in the middle (laughs). It's not necessary for the main character to be there from beginning to end. I felt that this was a new idea.

Also, the characters' inner anguish was something I could empathize with in many ways, and I thought, "I definitely want to be a part of this." I also had an intuitive feeling about it.

"Young Strangers" ©2024 The Young Strangers Film Partners

Q: I understand that you didn't have any rehearsals for this production, but did you two discuss the character of Saito?

Uchiyama: Almost none. I met him after handing him the script, so we had to understand the contents. More than that, when you try to grasp something as fictional as a movie role, a wall inevitably appears and there are parts that you can't reach. I would reveal what Isomura Hayato sees, feels, and breathes in his everyday life, so I thought we should share our everyday selves. I think that's what we want from each other. I felt that we understood each other without even talking about it. We shared our everyday selves, including the most trivial things that don't matter.

Isomura: I really liked this way of doing things. Depending on the work or the director, we might not even meet privately and we would just start filming, but with Director Uchiyama, we would have dinner parties where we would share what we were thinking and what we were feeling inside, and we would go to the sauna together. I think that spending casual time together like that would carry over to the set. I was very grateful for that, and I think it was because we had that time that I was able to get straight into the production without any anxiety or tension on the first day.

Q: If you don't have rehearsals, how do you deal with discrepancies between what the director is trying to create and what happens on set?

Uchiyama: I think that both what you build up and what you destroy are important. I think it's fine for what you have assumed to change, so when I go to the set, I sometimes try to forget about it. The cast members often say to me, "The director said this before," and I'm like, "Did he really say that?" It's because I'm consciously trying to tear down what I've built up inside of me.

However, when editing, I sometimes get too attached to things. When I work while controlling everything, saying "I want to use that cut from that scene," I can't help but get attached to things. I try to forget all of that. So there was nothing different from what I expected, and I try not to. It turned out to be more than what I had imagined, so it didn't turn out the way I imagined it would. I think that's what it is.

Taking on the challenge of "changing the protagonist"