We held a press conference featuring The Woodsman and the Rain from the Competition section on October 23rd.
■ Date & Time October 23rd (Sunday), from 15:30 @Movie Café
■ Appearance Shuichi Okita (Director), Koji Yakusho (Actor), Shun Oguri (Actor)
Here are some notes and quotes:
Shuichi Okita (Okita): I was really looking forward to having this film screened at this festival. Thank you so much.
Koji Yakusho (KY): This movie will be in theaters in February 2012, but it is an honor having it screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival. It is truly a heart-warming film which I am sure you will all enjoy.
Shun Oguri (SO): I am very grateful and honored having been a part of this film. I believe we were able to come up with a very interesting movie.
Q: Mr. Yakusho and Mr. Oguri both have directed their own films. How has your experience of shooting and directing a film influenced in creating your role?
KY: Yes, I have once directed a film, but I certainly had a bigger budget than Koichi, acted by Mr. Oguri, did in this film! I have experienced many shooting sites as an actor so I can say that the actors and staff depicted in this movie are quite real. In this sense, I enjoyed shooting this film with Mr. Okita and his crew. At the same time, my experience as a director was useful in creating my role.
SO: There is this scene where Koichi tries to escape from shooting his film which is the same feeling I had almost everyday when directing my own film. Of course I decided to shoot a movie because I wanted to but once it all began, I realized what a tough job it was. I’d pray for it to rain or wish to escape! Therefore, this experience was definitely very helpful when creating my role for Mr. Okita’s film.
Q: Was Mr. Yakusho and Mr. Oguri’s experience as a director somewhat a reference when casting their roles?
Okita: It all comes down to the fact that I really liked Mr. Oguri as an actor. Also, when I read his interview about directing his movie, Surely Someday, he was expressing all the hardships and complications of filmmaking very straightforwardly in his own words. I found this extremely attractive which I admit was influential in the casting.
Q: What it your source of inspiration for the sense of humor in the film?
Okita: When you portray people who are striving to live and create a story around them, there is something comical about them and they naturally bring out a sense of humor that is not in your face. I keep this in mind when writing the script. Also, this kind of humor takes off when the actors recognize it in the script and enjoys acting it out.
KY: When I first read the script, I thought it was a very fun and interesting movie. So, I obviously did not want to make it any less so by acting it out. When I come across a humorous character, I don’t necessarily think about how funny he is, but rather, I tell myself that he probably just appears funny—that he is simply dealing with the daily occurrences of his life. I think this is the kind of humor Mr. Okita was looking for.
SO: There were times when Mr. Okita would ask for a retake although he couldn’t seem to place a finger on what was wrong the first time around. But, I think there is a very slight, almost indistinguishable and inexplicable ‘something’ that is not right. It is probably that ‘something’ that makes the movie humorous.
