Naomi Kawase

When do you feel you've found the actress most appropriate for a role?

When I find the look in the eyes I'm looking for...I can size people up by their looks and expressions.

You said that the script of Hotaru was quickly disposed of during the shooting...

The script is like a guidebook, but more than knowing what will happen next, what interests me is experiencing, living what happens under my very eyes. What happened was that we all had discussions about the script and whenever a new interesting idea came about, it was included into the story.

Did you hold the camera yourself for Suzaku and Hotaru?

Well, not all the time, because a film camera is a pretty heavy thing! (laughs) There were three persons doing the camerawork on Hotaru, one cinematographer (Masami Inomoto, M/Other) and his two assistants. They cared for the more technical parts of the film, lenses, colours, etc. But when I want to feel more involved with the cinematography, at least I fix the camera somewhere and I adjust it myself.

You have shown the sexual act in a quite audacious way in Hotaru. This comes off as something quite unusual in what might be considered a rather "traditional" and formal film...

The love scene between Ayako and Daiji is undeniably something very important for me. But apart from that, it's something quite common in real life, you know! (laughs)

Was the dance and strip tease sequence in the fountain improvised?

Well, it was partly improvised and partly prepared in advance. The crew bus was waiting for us close by just in case we might have had some problems! (laughs) It was a risky sequence, right in the centre of Nara. That fountain is of some importance in Nara, you know, it's a popular gathering point. It can be compared with the Hachiko square in Shibuya. It is a place where lovers date. It is a highly symbolic place. The police arrived only 5 minutes after we had finished shooting the sequence and we had to account for what we had done. It was a rather delicate situation. What I wanted to show in that sequence is the way the character of this older strip teaser expresses her pain when she takes off her clothes. It's her way of expressing her suffering.

Is it true that you were already acquainted with strip tease cabarets?

Yes, in my native village, there was a strip tease bar, and I went in one day and I must say that I really fell under the spell of one dancer.

What you say about tears is important. You say that tears make us stronger and richer as human beings, not weaker...

Are you familiar with Japanese literature? I think cinema has a much too brief history to be referred to. The way Japanese literature tells stories, describes human feelings is much different. Telling stories is telling how people live, suffer, unite and separate. For me, the inner reality of our beings does not always come through our emotions. We might be crying without feeling sad inside, or laughing without feeling happy. There is a distance between what we show and our innermost feelings. In that sense, the tear which Ayako sheds at the end of the film cannot be explained that easily; it is open to many interpretations...

You said that as a director you like to go into human beings making films. How do you feel about spectators being allowed to go into you through your films?

I do hope that happens! Through the process of going into persons, characters, I am hoping that some other people come into me to find me.

What's the situation of filmmakers like in Japan?

In Japan the situation of filmmakers is not entirely good, especially compared to France. One of the problems is that the government is not giving subsidies to support filmmakers. In that sense, the environment is not very good. Arts and culture are considered a heritage from the past, something wonderful and that you must protect, but there is not enough support for contemporary art. Another thing is that, in the film industry in Japan, filmmaking is considered something that you must discard, or do with a sense of suffering - you 're supposed to lose the basic necessities of life through the process. That condition, of pursuing a dream, without any savings, is something that would be forgiven for a man, but not for a woman. That kind of non-forgiveness from the older generations is still apparent in Japan and it's a high barrier to overcome.

Do you still expect much from festivals?

I can't say that I don't expect anything from film festivals but I do think that going to festivals is actually meeting people and not for the sake of getting awards. Even if I don't get an award, if I meet people, that makes me happy. Getting awards just increases the possibility for me to meet other people, and that's a great joy for me. On my resume, I can only write the number of prizes I won, the number of festivals I've gone to, and I cannot write what kind of people I've met, what kind of experiences I've had in relationships with them through these festivals. And in that sense the resume becomes a somewhat distorted image of me. Even in small festivals, even if I don't win an award, if my film reaches somebody and I have a strong meeting with that person, then I'm extremely happy.

Robin Gatto & Emi Yuki

back