"Even if I know, the shapes of love" Director Ryutaro Nakagawa creates a love story worthy of adult appreciation [Director's Interview Vol. 460]

Cinemascope makes love stories come true

Q: I believe this is your first time working with photographer Tetsuya Kondo. Can you tell us how you came to be staffed with him?

Nakagawa: The only staff I nominated were the recording and directing departments, and I asked producer Sano Dai of Spoon, the production company, to handle the rest of the staffing. I had a few cameramen nominated, and among them I decided to ask Contetsu (Tetsuya Kondo), who has a serious style of photography.

The character of Sazanami, played by Ryusei, can't be too realistic, but it can't be too far removed from reality either. The line there is very difficult. This time, the film is planned as a work that is mainly watched by women, but I thought that Ryusei would look better if the film was shot in a masculine style by Contetsu. Contetsu is someone who creates sharp images, so I thought that the actions of Sazanami would not stand out too much and would go beyond reality in a good way.

I also told Contetsu to "make it a miniature garden-like world." In order to fully capture the extraordinary nature of art universities and the ultimate extraordinary love in everyday life, I wanted a miniature garden-like world that felt unrealistic in a good way. This time, I asked Contetsu to be the photographer who could create that.

Abema Original Drama "Even if I know, the shapes of love" © AbemaTV, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Q: This time it was shot in Cinemascope. What was the intention behind that? Also, why did you choose to suppress the everyday aspects of the film?

Nakagawa: The longing for love that appears in the film is something that many people have, but not everyone can do it. It seems that the rate of people being in love is particularly low now compared to the past, and it seems like we are living in an age where it is difficult to fall in love. Compared to the past, the depth and intensity of love has also faded, and it feels like the world has become somewhat bleached. Still, in order to unearth the "love" that humans instinctively desire, if we create something that is connected to the everyday living room, it may evoke sympathy, but it will not be a story that delves into that. That's why I thought a certain kind of intensity was necessary.

In the case of a love story, I think there are only two options for the angle of view: "cutback" and "distance." I haven't used Cinemascope much in my previous works, but I thought that Cinemascope would be better for a love story in order to avoid making it a small story. But Cinemascope is very difficult. When you cut back, the white space next to the person is wasted, so if you do it too easily, it will be obvious right away. This time, I thought that the cutback of the eyes was important, so I wanted to fill the Cinemascope screen with eyes. A close-up of the eyes may be uncomfortable in a movie theater, but I think it could be attractive if it is distributed. I also thought that Cinemascope could be used well as an expression of two people who were far apart getting closer.

Q: What did you think about the traffic flow and angles at CinemaScope?

Nakagawa: Cinemascope is great for a spectacle like a war movie, but this time it's a love story that goes in and out of an apartment and a university. It was difficult to design the flow of people so that there were no leftover shots. In that case, we were very grateful that we could use many of the locations in their entirety. With Cinemascope, things you don't want to show keep showing up, so it's very difficult when there are restrictions. This time, we were able to borrow the entire art school, and the art direction was handled by a wonderful team led by Toshihiro Isomi. I think it was only possible because we had an environment where we could shoot no matter where we pointed the camera.

One artist per person, a commitment to art