[Interview] Ren Sudo gives his stamp of approval to the film "Burning"
In 2021, HIROSHIMA T-SITE held a talk event with director and lead actor Ren Sudo and screenwriter Aya Watanabe to coincide with the release of the film "Backlight," which is set in Onomichi. In addition, they created an original zine and even held a panel exhibition to promote "Backlight." I think the people at HIROSHIMA T-SITE were inspired by Sudo's passion at the time.
When the "HIROSHIMA T-SITE Seal of Approval" project was launched, Sudo was the first person I wanted to hear his seal of approval from. What will he talk about so passionately? I spoke to Director Sudo, who is in the middle of editing his second film, "ABYSS," scheduled for release in the fall of 2023.
The interview with Sudo began with the unexpected words, "I'm not sure what to give my stamp of approval to."
I was prepared to carry the weight of the film on my shoulders. Not just making it, but also thinking about how to deliver it.
Can I get closer to the theme of the stamp of approval? I started an activity called FOL, and the theme of the activity has always been "Making people and the world shine with the heat of culture." Using the word "film" narrows the focus, and the film genre itself is said to be a declining industry, so I removed the word "film" and used the word "culture."
My theme from last week or so has been not to run away from movies. I wasn't originally a big movie fan, and it was just a natural progression that led me to become a film director. I'm not as knowledgeable as other film directors, so I've avoided the word "film," but I don't want to run away from it. I changed it to "Making people and the world shine with the power of film," and I decided to "open up the future of film" through my activities, FOL.
Saying I'm paving the way to the future sounds like I have some lofty cause, but the reason I traveled around the country and held all kinds of events for Backlight wasn't to pave the way for the future of the film industry, it was to pave the way for my own future.
I've always been involved in traveling around to various places to carefully deliver and have people receive the films that I find truly fresh and enjoyable, and deliver the films I make on the scale that I think is best.I've been doing this to pave the way for my own future, but ultimately, I want to do it with the awareness that I'm paving the way for the future of film.
I carry the weight of the film genre. I'm just saying that (laughs). But I have the impression that there are a lot of people like that in my generation. I think we live in an era where the things that influenced us don't sell. It's not just about making things, we have to think about how to deliver them.
It started with the word culture, but I recently realized that it was ultimately a film, so I took a roundabout route and decided to give my stamp of approval to the film after all.
Jia Zhangke's "A Momentary Dream" made me realize I could make a film too
The film directors I recommend are all Asian. There are three of them: Jia Zhang-ke, Wong Kar-wai, and Lee Chang-dong. Next is Bi Nguyen, who directed "Long Day's Journey." And Tran Anh Hung is French, but he's Vietnamese, isn't he? Those five. It's a bit difficult to talk about one person.
The first film that made me want to make a film was Jia Zhangke's "A Momentary Dream." It was his debut film. It's a very strange story, but I think there are films that make people want to make films. And not just good films.
The first film features Jia Zhangke's friends and is about a fleeting romance between an uncool boy with glasses and a woman working at a brothel. I think it's incredibly difficult to explain what's so good about Jia Zhangke's films. "A Momentary Dream" also has rough handheld footage, with mediocre actors filmed in a background of China with a camera that isn't very set in stone. There are only two scenes that I can't forget. One is the scene where she is visiting someone in the hospital. Her health is deteriorating. A completely helpless man who is a pickpocket goes to visit her. The man buys her something to give as a gift. In that room, the girl suddenly collapses into the man's lap. It's a long shot. The light shines on the house. In a film where nothing else has happened up until that point, the moment of collapse hits me.
The first film features Jia Zhangke's friends and is about a fleeting romance between an uncool boy with glasses and a woman working at a brothel. I think it's incredibly difficult to explain what's so good about Jia Zhangke's films. "A Momentary Dream" also has rough handheld footage, with mediocre actors filmed in a background of China with a camera that isn't very set in stone. There are only two scenes that I can't forget. One is the scene where she is visiting someone in the hospital. Her health is deteriorating. A completely helpless man who is a pickpocket goes to visit her. The man buys her something to give as a gift. In that room, the girl suddenly collapses into the man's lap. It's a long shot. The light shines on the house. In a film where nothing else has happened up until that point, the moment of collapse hits me.
Another one is when the two of them get closer to each other at the karaoke bar. The camera moves in the red light and captures the two of them. I saw those two scenes, which I didn't really understand, and it made me want to make a movie. I want to make a movie, or rather, I thought, I can make a movie. I think that's because the director Jia Zhangke was competing with just the camera and the characters. Of course, I know now that it's not easy.
I admire the power that movies that we explore as much as we can and put all our effort into have to move the audience. Even in my own movies, I don't use actors who are so popular, and I don't want to work on such a big project because I know the power that those kinds of movies have. I would be very happy if people saw my movies and thought they wanted to make movies.
This is the first work that I can give my stamp of approval to, even though I couldn't decide what I liked.
I can talk like this in a very arrogant way, but until I was about 22 or 23 years old, I didn't know what I liked. So I couldn't even give my stamp of approval. I think this is becoming more common among my generation and younger generations, but I feel like it's quite common for people to not be able to decide for themselves what they like. Before you can make your own judgment, other people's opinions come into play. I feel like this is making it harder for things that you don't think are interesting but are considered interesting by the world, or things that you think are interesting but are considered uninteresting by the world, to exist, but I think that's really important.
The first movie that I decided was interesting on my own was "Burning" by Lee Chang-dong. It was based on a novel by Haruki Murakami. I saw it at a theater in Shibuya. I had heard of Lee Chang-dong's name, and I had heard rumors that his works "Oasis" and "Peppermint Candy" were great. I wasn't that interested in movies, so I thought I'd like to see it someday, but when his new work came out, I saw it without the reviews from people I trusted having been solidified.
I started watching it and was completely taken in. The charm of the woman called Hemi. There is a scene where she suddenly starts to take off her clothes and dance in the evening. I don't know. I love the feeling of being in a trance in a movie theater, or being slightly intoxicated, so I decided to call this movie my favorite as I sat on the sofa in the theater and watched that scene, and that was the moment I decided.
The feelings of stagnation and anxiety I felt at the time, not knowing if I could live with my feet on the ground, overlapped with the protagonist's feelings of not knowing what to do. Anyway, my heart was shaken, and I can't forget the feeling I had on the way home. The movie had me in a deep, meditative state, and I walked home unable to escape. That feeling was the biggest punch I've ever had in a theater experience. The first movie I was able to give my stamp of approval to was "Burning." Up until then, I had other people help me give my approval.
It's really scary to decide things for yourself, and I didn't know. I think I'm pushing it now without any hesitation. Of course, when you're moved, it depends on your state of mind, but there are moments when your sensibilities are so moved that you can't help but think it was good. Obviously. It's not that I've changed, but more like a traffic accident, like a work suddenly appears in your life and shakes your soul. It's the same with love, isn't it? The other person suddenly appears. Like you're forced to choose. I find it incredibly sexy when there's only one option left.
The incredible power of Lee Chang-dong
"Burning" is not Lee Chang-dong's greatest masterpiece. I think "Oasis" is better. For me, it's definitely "Burning". After seeing "Burning", I thought Lee Chang-dong was amazing, so I rushed to Waseda Shochiku and saw "Peppermint Candy" and "Oasis", and I cried so hard my body was twisted after both. But I thought it was interesting that I preferred "Burning", which didn't even make me cry. It's not that it's good to make me cry. I think the quality of a work is different from my own approval.
I first saw "Burning" before I became a film director, and I still watch it over and over again. My impression has never changed. Of course, from the first time I saw it, I understood how it was shot. I understood what they were doing, but I still don't understand why it's so great. The world construction, depth, and intensity are at their maximum, so there are no gaps. This may sound really strange, but I think the roughness of Wong Kar-wai's "Buenos Aires" stands out. The script for "In the Mood for Love" also has some flaws. Wong Kar-wai has always been like that, hasn't he? The fun of making good use of mistakes on the set. Avant-garde. I'm more or less like that. But Lee Chang-dong is perfect. He knows the depth of the world very well. I hope you'll see it.
His second film, "ABYSS," is scheduled for release in the fall of 2023.
"ABYSS" is a work that I prepared before "Backlight". I wanted to shoot "ABYSS" as my first work, but I couldn't shoot it because of COVID. But it was a huge plus that I was able to shoot "ABYSS" after "Backlight". "Backlight" is set in Onomichi, and my acting is one of four people, and it's 60 minutes long. Of course, it's not an easy work, but it was a relatively low hurdle for me, because I wrote the script for "ABYSS". There are some parts that Aya Watanabe didn't write, so the script is rough. It's not as expert as "Backlight". It's amateurish, and the setting is Shibuya, and to be honest, it's easy to take good pictures in Onomichi. Because the location is good. It's very difficult to take good pictures in Shibuya. There's no beauty that can be created by subtraction. It's extremely difficult to find beauty in excess.
Bad feelingIt was difficult to control the site because it was a work with the same atmosphere. The scale of the site and the budget were about twice as much, or even three times as much, so it was really tough. If we consider the amount of effort it took to create "Backlight" to be two, it was about 17 times as much. 8 times (laughs)
I put my heart and soul into it, but there were some parts that I felt I just couldn't reach. So I did some additional filming. I lost once. There were quite a few parts that I just couldn't handle. But the final result was better. I don't think you'll understand what's going on when you see the film, but honestly, I felt like I was going through a series of setbacks.
Also, the acting was very difficult and I had a lot of weight with myself. There were times when I had to give the OK when it was clearly NG. Just remembering it makes me feel scared. There were times when I realized that the OK/NG decisions I made on set were wrong during editing. The cut I gave the NG was completely better. I didn't use any OK cuts in "ABYSS." "Backlight" was made almost entirely with OK cuts, but that's how much I wavered. I made it without being able to make a decision, so it felt like I re-directed it during editing. That's why the title was changed from "Blue Rondo" to "ABYSS."
It has become a way of making a film that will greatly rewrite the meaning of a masterpiece by a young, experience-based director. It is scheduled to be released this fall.
It has become a way of making a film that will greatly rewrite the meaning of a masterpiece by a young, experience-based director. It is scheduled to be released this fall.
"ABYSS"
Nationwide release at Cine Quinto and other theaters from fall 2023
(C) Movie “ABYSS” Production Committee
(C) Movie “ABYSS” Production Committee
【profile】
Ren Sudo
Ren Sudo
Born in Tokyo in 1996. Film director and actor. Made his directorial debut with "Backlight". Has appeared in many films, including the NHK Taiga drama "Idaten" and "First Love (Netflix)". Head of FOL (Fruits of Life) activities. His second film, "ABYSS", is scheduled to be released this fall.
Born in Tokyo in 1996. Film director and actor. Made his directorial debut with "Backlight". Has appeared in many films, including the NHK Taiga drama "Idaten" and "First Love (Netflix)". Head of FOL (Fruits of Life) activities. His second film, "ABYSS", is scheduled to be released this fall.
photo_Rintaro Kanemoto
Composition: Ushiban Shinji
