Life and Death Are the Eternal Motif of Films

　　Departures made Yojiro Takita win the Academy Award and become a “world-class director”. Even funeral director, portrayed by the film, has been a hot profession. In his films including Departures, life and death are often found. About the film, Takita himself said he hadn’t imagined it could make a great success like this. The film, set in a small backdrop, simply depicts Japanese culture and life that he feels. He didn’t aspired too high at first. Yet unexpectedly, it has gained much prevalence across the globe. This makes him believe that, a filmmaker must have confidence in his own culture, and shoot what pulls at his own heartstrings. Only in this way can the audience strike a chord with the filmmaker. “Though it’s hard to grasp what the audience like or love, there are several things in common, such as innermost warmth, interpersonal love, living troubles, life-goals.”

　　Why his films often involve life and death? He replied, to live or die is not a personal problem, but a universal one. No guy in this mortal world can escape it, but none wants to discuss it really. Most people, when asked this, would not give their answers. Instead, films can allow us to directly face the harsh and heavy motif. And thus, they are a major form of art in this regard. Above all, the Japanese said his films tried to discuss death as well as living. As we all know, everyone follows a birth-death circle in his life. There is no exception. “So, Departures, though depicting death apparently, has gone well beyond that. Through this motif, the film simply tells everyone how to live and look at his own life.” The director himself said he loves most those films advocating the courage to fight on and on despite a dismal future ahead. For this reason, he was deeply moved by Chen Kaige’s Yellow Earth. To this day, when talking about Chinese films, Takita still often takes it for example.

　　Once news out there said the Oscar-winning Departures made Takita “a hero of Japan”. When mentioning this, the director smiled happily, “No, there’s no such honour. I had thought perhaps I could become an icon of Japan. It turned out quite the same as before.” After the hearty simile, Takita admitted the honour later made him advance too. For example, he could find the investment more easily, but received much pressure as well. That’s the negative side of being famous. “ ‘Now he has won the Oscar Award, how can he make bad films to make himself under fire anymore?’ So, I’ve got much strength to fight against heavy pressure. And of course, the Oscar-winning experience has encouraged me to make films with much more care and caution.”

　　“No Border” in Filmmaking

　　In 2009, Departures won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Later in 2012, Yojiro Takita shot Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer, a feature film. But from that year onward, he has not made any new films. Takita said clearly that, he has been looking for something suitable, but found nowhere what interests him. “Such a low output made many think that I don’t make films anymore. So, they urged me to make one film or more as quickly as possible.” The Japanese director claimed that, he had hoped to find out some new inspiration at this festival, “Such a platform allows me to enjoy so many excellent films from the whole world within the short period, even including those films that I have never watched before. I really hope watching them could inspire me to make films instantly.”

　　Flourishing Chinese movie market has attracted the eyes of the globe. China also has become the second largest market surpassing Japan. And according to specialists, in the not too far future China will outshine the United States. When I interviewed Takita, the famous director also expressed his great envy for such enormous market, but also said one country’s movie market is affected by many factors like its economy, strength. That is not the sole factor influencing one country’s movie sector. “Every country has its national colour. Such a country, however tiny, can produce extraordinary films and exceptional filmmakers. As a rule, the world, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. To my mind, however, there will be inevitably more and more international cooperation in filmmaking.”

　　But in such cooperation, how can a country maintain its independence? Takita argued that, a filmmaker must have full confidence in his own culture and shoot films to depict that culture. “For instance, when shooting Departures, I had tried to epitomize the Japanese culture without the slightest idea of serving the Westerners. That’s because I’m a native Japanese. My standpoint also represents Japan’s, so that the film can be understood by Japanese. It turned out that the film struck a chord with the rest of the world. This therefore shows films or movies are a world language. Any film can be understood by most people all over the world.”

　　Soon Joining Hands with Chinese Filmmakers

　　With this in mind, Takita suggested Chinese filmmakers should make their own films well, not simply cater to Westerners’ tastes. “China boasts profound and broad culture. In history, there are too many things to make films. Even its food culture can be made better-known across this planet by filmmaking. Such splendid repositories are the envy of Japanese. I ever discovered a single take about loneliness, which depicts a person standing in the open space. That scene is indeed specific to Chinese films. Alas, Japanese filmmakers can never accomplish that!”

　　Attracted by Chinese culture, Yojiro Takita has in recent years visited China many times. Now he has readily accepted to be a referee of the 6th Beijing International Film Festival. And he also conveyed his intent of cooperating with Chinese filmmakers. It is known that on April 19, the Launch Conference of Magilm Pictures “MAG” Film Master Plan Strategy will be held at the festival. The Magilm Pictures 14-film list not only includes Burning Brain, Transmission Point, All in This World Belong to Fatties, Daddy’s Fantastic Life, but even Wenyan, a warm feature film directed by Takita. It will be his first march into the Chinese Market. Sources from Magilm Pictures revealed that, Wenyan will tell a story about how a father surnamed Liu and his son conflict with each other in the philosophy of continuing their generations-old cake recipe. Besides, the birth of his granddaughter “Wenyan” sparked the beginning split of the Lius. At first, the son didn’t know the truth, but finally realized his father’s deep love for him behind the recipe. It is anticipated the film will begin shooting in late 2016.

　　During the interview, Takita revealed there are several scripts at his hand. One of them, a new film involving Chinese elements, would begin shooting in July, 2016. That film would tell a tale in puppet Manchu state. He plans to make exterior shoots in Beijing. But it is as yet under negotiation.

　　All Good Movies Strike a Balance between Commerciality and Artistry

　　Nowadays Chinese films and movies boast “ENTERTAINMENT FIRST”. What’s more, box-office becomes the “best touchstone” for directors. And for this reason, many Chinese directors, even including some colossuses, have been deeply troubled by the “box-office”. In filmmaking, they have to take into account the market response. Takita showed profound sympathy for this phenomenon. To his way of thinking, a good film should strike a subtle balance between commerciality and artistry. “Any good movie should shock your souls during your watching. But for a screened film, neither commerciality nor artistry is dispensable.”

　　Takita stated clearly that, for many directors, shooting films is wanting the audience to watch them. Nevertheless, filmmaking demands investment. For this reason, the related parties will naturally hope it could recover the cost. This process will thus be a healthy circle. That is what the market decides, never changed by any external force. “But, filmmakers cannot make films only to please the general public for money-making’s sake. Films have another function—being meaningful, for our life, the world or even the universe at large. For example, Departures discusses a serious topic such as life and death. However, any serious subject has to be so amusing that audiences will not feel dull and dry. Put clearly, even a serious film introduces some entertaining elements. On the other hand, no commercial film has no serious side. Commercial films often express the director’s thought and feelings. Only through balancing art and commerce can a film be very good.”

　　Finally, Yojiro Takita looked at me and gave an analogy here, “Any media, like the one you serve, naturally want to attract more readers. Likewise, films also need more audiences to watch. That’s a joyful thing, a great comfort for their directors. For a film, it is never good enough to be too high-brow or too vulgar. Just a balance, a subtle balance between the extremes, will be the best. That’s a kind of harmony. That’s the simplest and most appropriate stance of all Orientals, like you and me.” Reported by Journalist Zhang Jia and photographed by Cui Jun.