Family and the city. "I wanted to portray indescribable feelings in a flat way."
Yuiga Danzuka
I wrote the script for "Miharashi Generation" when I was 22 or 23 years old, the same age as Kurosaki is now. At the time, my closest community was my family, and since I'm from Tokyo, I made the protagonist a young man whose father is a landscape designer involved in the redevelopment of Shibuya.
Kurosaki Akiyo
Unrelated to this film, the director and I often had tea on the rooftop of Miyashita Park, where the film was set. We had casual guy conversations. That place is a popular pick-up spot at night, so we'd observe the situation and say things like, "How's it going?" or "That's not going to work..." (laughs).
Danzuka
I look so bad (laughs). But looking at that scene, I felt a strong desire to photograph the raw young people living in Shibuya. There are problems with the redevelopment of Miyashita Park. But it doesn't feel right to simply condemn the young people hanging out there without knowing that reality. I wanted to objectively record the complex emotions that are hard to put into words.
Kurosaki
We hardly talked about preparing for the role, but the time we spent together there was helpful in acting. And also... lifting (wry smile).
Danzuka
Since Rintaro (Arao), who played the protagonist's childhood role, was so good, we quickly added a shot of him doing a ball-lifting scene. Kurosaki-kun gave us practice reports every day.
Kurosaki
During that practice, I vaguely imagined the blank 10 years that weren't depicted in the film. But I couldn't do the crucial lifting well during the actual performance, which was terrible. The editing helped me out (laughs).
Danzuka
What kind of conversations did we have during filming? I don't think we talked about movies in particular.
Kurosaki
That's right. Oh, speaking of movies, have you seen "Vacances Everyone" directed by Guillaume Brac?
Danzuka
The script and atmosphere were amazing.
Kurosaki
Right! It's so good! They did a workshop with drama school students and then filmed it, so it's very raw.
Danzuka
Speaking of which, I recently rewatched Director Hirokazu Koreeda's "Miracle," which was amazing. The brothers of the protagonist are played by the stand-up comedian duo Maeda Maeda, so even though it's fiction, it reflects the atmosphere of real-life brothers.
Kurosaki
I like movies about war, and in Japan, my top pick is "Fires on the Plain" (directed by Shinya Tsukamoto), but I would also like to recommend "Pasajerka" to the director. The way it's portrayed is merciless, and I like the lack of unnecessary human drama.
Danzuka
Wow, I didn't know about that film. I'll check it out!
Directed by Danzuka Yuiga / Starring Kurosaki Akiyo, Endo Kenichi, Kiryu Aso and others / A father involved in urban development is so consumed with his work that the family falls apart. Several years after the death of their mother, the surviving father and siblings are reunited. The story of this family intersects with the changing Shibuya of today. Released nationwide from October 10th at Bunkamura Le Cinema Shibuya Miyashita and other theaters.
Classic movies that each of us recommends to the other
Kurosaki Recommends
"Pasajerka" (1963/Poland)
The protagonist is a woman who was a guard at the Auschwitz concentration camp. While traveling on a luxury cruise ship, she encounters a woman who looks exactly like a female prisoner she had been in contact with, and reminisces about the Holocaust. Director Andrzej Munk died in an accident during filming. The film is also known as an unfinished masterpiece.
Danzuka Recommends
"Miracle" (2011/Japan)
After their parents divorce, two brothers are separated in Kagoshima and Fukuoka, and on the morning of the opening of the entire Kyushu Shinkansen line, they try to rekindle their family bond. The story was originally planned as a boy-meets-girl story, but director Koreeda, who was attracted to Maeda Maeda at an audition, wrote it specifically for her.
