Born in Tokyo in 1962, Hirokazu Kore-eda originally intended to be a novelist, but…
Hirokazu Kore-eda: “…the program at Waseda was pretty intense in terms of language requirements — two hours of English and four hours of Chinese. I thought, what do I need this for? So I stopped going to class.” *
SydneysBuzz: Your first feature, Maborosi (1995) was based on a Teru Miyamoto novel and won jury prizes at Venice and Chicago. Since then, you have always written your own screenplays. How did you come to make Monster which was written by Yûji Sakamoto?
Hirokazu Kore-eda: I always wanted to work with Mr. Sakamoto and he told me he had a script. I said yes to making it without even reading it.**
How did you feel after reading it?
I felt it was good and would be a challenge to make.
What about the ending of Monster? Did the two boys escape or did they die?
Many people stopped me in Cannes where it premiered and begged to know what the end was, Did the boys live or die? When making the film we assumed they survived and were able to affirm who they were, that they came into their own. If some think they did not survive, that is also fine. But what was important was that they came into themselves.
Do you watch a lot of movies by other directors?
Yes, but I never watch movies of others when I am filming, and I have been filming so consistently that I haven’t had much time to watch.
But during the pandemic, I watched many films, around 600. I watched two films a day, old and new. Because my daughter, who was in the 6th grade, was not going to school, I chose many films that I had seen when I was young to watch with her, films like Planet of the Apes, Paper Moon, Holiday in Rome. I grew up watching these and decided to watch them again while she was at home. Her favorite was Blues Brothers.
What did you take away from the experience? Do you watch to learn or to enjoy?
Mainly to have fun with my daughter. But watching inspired me to say I need to go back to the classics and look at them again…films by John Ford and Howard Hawks for example.
What do you think of Japan’s Oscar submission of Perfect Days by Wim Wenders, rather than your film Monster?
My staff is disappointed, but I think it’s fantastic. Japan is a very internally focused country. Choosing a non-Japanese director is refreshing and a good decision for Japan. No one ever thought of having a foreign director coming in to make a Japanese film — a very Japanese film.
If I directed a film in Korea, I would not want my work to be disregarded because I was not Korean.
[Broker (Korean: 브로커) is a 2022 South Korean drama film written, directed and edited by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, and starring Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-won, Bae Doona, Lee Ji-eun, and Lee Joo-young.]
Did you see Wenders’ Perfect Days? Did you like it?
I saw it in Cannes. I liked it very much.
Was it very Japanese?
It is very much a Wim Wenders film. I thought Wim Wenders is back!
Well, my 15 minutes is up. Thank you very much and please continue to make many more movies!
*This quote was taken from IMDb.
** Festival de Cannes 2023, Official Selection, Winner for Best Screenplay by Yuji Sakamoto
Monster was sold internationally by Good Fellas and Gaga to Australia (Madman), Benelux, Surinam, Dutch Antilles (September), Brazil, Bulgaria (Beta), Canada, Central America (Pacifica Grey), China (Star Alliance), Egypt, Ex-Yugo/ Albania (MCF Megacom), Finland (Cinema Mondo), France (Le Pacte), Germany (Wild Bunch), Greece (Spentzos), Hong Kong (Edko), India (Impact), Indonesia (Falcon, Klikfilm), Italy (Bim), Latin America (Imovision), Mexico (Tulip), Philippines (Nathan Studios), Poland (Best), Portugal (Midas), Singapore (Clover, Golden Village), South Africa, South Korea (Media Castle), Spain (Vertigo), Sweden (Triart), Switzerland (Cineworx), Taiwan (Movie Cloud), Thailand (Sahamongkol), Turkey (Filmarti), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom/Ireland (Picturehouse), United States (Wellgo)
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