Filmmaker takes his own route
Print Edition
NINETEEN years ago, Shunji Iwai released his first theatrical feature film “Love Letter,” which quickly became a box-office hit in both Japan and South Korea and became his ticket to the mainstream Japanese film industry. Though not shown in Chinese theaters at the time, it is also widely popular here and considered a classic in China.
“Movies have to be beautiful,” he says. “They have to have beautiful shapes and visuals.”
In the next nine years, he has written, directed, produced and composed music for a series of movies that quickly became some of the best-known and most influential contemporary Japanese films in Asia. The movies are beautifully shot and edited, feature atmospheric music that enhance the images, and often contain bittersweet romances, especially first love among teens, like in “Hana & Alice,” which was released in 2004.
“I haven’t had a day’s rest in the past 20 years,” he says. “I’m always working.”
But in the past 10 years, he has only directed one feature film, “Vampire,” with English speaking actors and was released in both US and Japan.
During the same period, the 51-year-old filmmaker has written, produced and directed experimental films and documentaries that have no dialogue. He has written for both films and TV, produced for young filmmakers in Japan and China, released music albums, held music concerts, adapted scripts for the stage, and written and produced radio programs.
“Filmmaking is dangerous,” he says, eyes unfocused, and speaking so low as if he were talking to himself or indulging in his own world.
“The process of going back and forth from the new world, the fantasy you create for the film and the reality is suffering and difficult. A few of my filmmaker friends have had the problem, like finding themselves walking in the middle of nowhere without knowing why.
“Luckily I have other projects I can work on. If I feel it’s getting dangerous, I can go write a story, or play music, or produce for other filmmakers.”
He has also started a one-man film festival, a festival without red carpets or stars that focuses purely on enjoying films.
“I want it to become the smallest film festival in the world,” he tells Shanghai Daily while serving as juror for the Shanghai International Film Festival, the largest and most influential of its kind in China.
“My interest is how small can it be?” he says. “There is no rule. For example, if there is one movie and one viewer, is that a film festival?”
The film festival started on January 1, 2011, on www.iwaiff.com, which releases monthly videos. Starting this month, new content will be free of charge in order to become “a film festival for everyone.” The content and length of the videos vary drastically. It can be anything from behind-the-scenes footage to music videos and documentaries or an old movie he likes.
“I’m not really sure if it is really a film festival anymore,” he says, laughing. “Sometimes I just put music on it. It’s really my little film festival, simply to enjoy good movies.”
It is getting increasingly more difficult to enjoy filmmaking, it seems, as Iwai repeatedly talks about how tough the filmmaking situation has become in Japan, especially when compared to the booming market in China.
According to veteran filmmaker and producer He Ping, about 700 feature movies were made by Chinese directors last year, of which more than 90 percent came from young filmmakers. Of course, most of these films never got properly distributed, but in spite of that, the number and percentage still shocks Iwai.
“Japanese filmmakers will be so jealous,” he says. “We have an association of film directors in Japan, and even for directors from that association, only 10 to 20 percent of them get to make a movie every year. And that movie is most likely to be adapted from manga or novels rather than based on an original script. It really is getting increasingly difficult to make movies in Japan.”
He also notes the director’s credit has become increasingly smaller compared to 10 years ago. He says in Japan it’s now in the corner of movie posters. When Iwai first started his own career making shots for TV, music videos and commercials, it was not easy for a young filmmaker, but one could find opportunities here and there and he gradually built a reputation in the circle.
Today, according to Iwai, many young filmmakers he works with have to get a part-time job to make ends meet.
“I have many stories I want to make movies about,” he says. “But it’s not easy to get everything ready. It involves a lot more than myself.”
In the past few years, some of his movie projects were launched, stopped, relaunched and halted again.
“The new digital technology makes it easier and cheaper to make films,” he says. “Everyone can make a film. Many filmmakers also upload them online for people to watch for free. That’s a good way to promote, especially for new filmmakers. But we still need to figure out a way to make money so we can make the next one.”
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