"Enemy" Director Daihachi Yoshida makes movies he wants to see [Director's Interview Vol. 464]

Many of Yasutaka Tsutsui's works have been adapted to film, such as "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time " (1983), " Paprika " (2006), and " Jazz Daimyo " (1986), but this time a new masterpiece has been added to the list. What's more, the director is Yoshida Daihachi, known for " Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo " (2012) and " Decoy " (2021), so one can't help but have high expectations. In fact, this film, "The Enemy," achieved the remarkable feat of winning three awards at last year's Tokyo International Film Festival: the Tokyo Grand Prix, the Best Actor Award, and the Best Director Award. There is something intensely captivating about this black-and-white film depicting the daily life of an elderly man. How did director Yoshida Daihachi create "The Enemy"? We spoke to him.

Synopsis of "Enemy"

Watanabe Gisuke (Nagatsuka Kyozo), 77 years old. Ten years have passed since he quit his job as a university professor. His wife has passed away and he lives in a traditional Japanese house that has been passed down since his grandfather's generation. He cooks his own food and enjoys a drink in the evening. Although he has become estranged from many friends, he drinks with a few close friends and occasionally invites his students over for dinner. While calculating how many years his savings will last, in other words, how many years he has left to live, his days pass in perfect peace as he looks towards the days to come. He has even written a will. There is nothing left to do. But one day, an ominous Arrival appears on the screen of his iMac in his study: "The enemy is coming."

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

Index

• Reading experience has changed over the years
• Create a house plan and write a script
• The importance of talking to actors
• Why was it monochrome?
• Reaction from the previous work
• Make the movies you want to see

Reading experience has changed over the years

Q: What was it about the original work that appealed to you about adapting it into a film?

Yoshida: I first read it at the end of the 90s, when I was still in my 30s and hadn't made any films yet. The first half of the story was a series of relentless depictions of everyday life, which I found incredibly comforting. Somehow, that stuck in my mind, and I wondered if I could make something with those depictions as the protagonist, with an old man as the main character, but I never got around to making it into a film.

The Day After time passed, and when I reread it during the COVID-19 pandemic when I couldn't leave my house, it resonated with me in a completely different way than it had before. I thought to myself, already in my late 50s, that I might want to see it made into a movie. At the time, people all over the world were stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and found themselves in a similar situation to the protagonist, Gisuke. That special situation may have also influenced my mood.

"Enemy" ©1998 Yasutaka Tsutsui/Shinchosha ©2023 TEKINOMIKATA

Also, at that time, the producer asked me, "Do you want to do something?" and I was feeling excited, so I said, "Let's do this," and asked him to read "Tenshi." However, because of the content, I was half expecting him to not get into it. I was surprised at how smoothly things progressed.