19 December 2015

BFI London Film Festival 2015 | ロンドン映画祭 2015

It's been already two months since the London Film Festival which was held between the 7th and 18th October showing 240 films from 72 countries. This year I watched four Japanese films (Happy Hour, Love and Peace, Our Little Sister and An). The London Film Festival has become an opportunity to enjoy the latest Japanese films for me. Here are my notes about the films I saw and I have to give you a spoiler warning.

すでに2カ月ほども前の話題ですが(汗)、映画ラバーの祭典「ロンドン映画祭」。今年は10月7日から18日の間に72か国から集まった240本の作品が上演されました。
今年観たのは、日本映画4本(『ハッピー・アワー』、『ラブ&ピース』、『海街diary』、『あん』)。
ロンドン映画祭、だんだん新作日本映画を観る場になりつつあるような。。。(以下、かなりネタばれとなりますので、ご注意あれ)


Happy Hour
Director: HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke
Writers: HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke, NOHARA Tadashi, TAKAHASHI Tomoyuki
Stars: KAWAMURA Rira, KIKUCHI Hazuki, MIHARA Maiko, TANAKA Sachie
2015/Japan
★★★★☆

This film is about four women in their early thirties who live in Kobe. The extraordinary thing about this film is the length of the film which is five hours without an interval. I'd decided to see this one because I was curious about why it is this long. Surprisingly there were quite a few people in the cinema (and a long queue for the loo afterwards).

The film depicts the four women struggling. Maybe because the main actresses were not professional actresses, it felt like a documentary. As I got into their stories, it was as if I myself were a part of their lives. By the end of the film, I felt like they were my friends and wanted to ring them to see how they were doing. Their conversations in western dialect reminded me of my university days in Osaka and made me a bit nostalgic.

神戸に暮らす30代女子4人の物語。
この映画、何がすごいって、上映時間5時間、なのですよ。しかもインターバルなし。
何故この長さ?というのが気になって観に行ったのですが、こんなモノ好きは他にはいないだろうと思っていたら、結構いたんですねぇ、これが。そして上演後のトイレ、長蛇の列でした(笑)

30代女性の悩みや葛藤を描いたこの映画、4人の主演女優たちは本職の役者さんではないそうで、そのせいか、ドキュメンタリーを見ているような感じでした。
もがきながら進んでいく彼女たちの姿が丹念に描かれていて、観ているうちに、彼女たちの生活の中に入って行く感じ。なんだか映画が終わる頃には他人とは思えなくて、電話して今どうしてるのか確かめたくなりました。
関西弁で交わされる会話に、大阪で過ごした学生時代をしみじみ思いだしました~。


Love and Peace
Director/Writer: SONO Shion
Stars: HASEGAWA Hiroki, ASO Kumiko, NISHIDA Toshiyuki
2015/Japan
★★★★☆

I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of this director SONO Shion but the trailer of this film looked fun, so I decided to see this one. And I'm glad I did!

SUZUKI Ryoichi is an ordinary office worker who once tried to be a rock star. He's bullied in the office and too shy to talk to TERASHIMA Yuko whom he secretly had a feeling. One day, he bought a tiny turtle and named it Pikadon. Since he started living with Pikadon, his life has moved in an unexpected direction. And the story involves mysterious old man who lives underground with abandoned toys which can speak...The synopsis sounds rather childish but I was hugely drawn into the film. And when Pikadon which had been separated from Ryoichi became gigantic like Godzilla and looked for him, tears were rolling down on my cheeks. I still don't know what moved me so much...  

園子温監督の作品には何だか苦手意識があったのですが、この映画、トレーラー見たら面白そうだったので行ってみることに。そしたら正解、行ってみて大正解!

鈴木良一は、かつてロックスターを目指していたものの、今ではうだつの上がらないサラリーマン。会社ではいじめられ、密かに想いを寄せる同僚の寺島裕子とも小心のあまり言葉を交わすことができない。ある日、デパートの屋上で1匹のミドリガメを購入する良一。ピカドンと名付けたこのカメとの出会いを契機に良一の人生は予想外の展開を見せ始めます。そこに、地下に暮らす謎の老人と言葉を話すおもちゃたちが絡んで。。。

と、あらすじだけ聞くと荒唐無稽というか、バカバカしいというか、なのですが、かなり惹き込まれました。で、クライマックスの離れ離れになったピカドンが巨大化して良一に会いに来るシーンで、滂沱の涙を流しておりました。何に感動したのか、いまだに謎です。そしてエンドロールの忌野清志郎が歌う『スローバラード』で涙腺決壊(1990年にこの映画の脚本を書いた園監督、鈴木良一役を忌野清志郎にオファーして断られたそう)。



Our Little Sister
Director/Writer: KORE-EDA Hirokazu based on the work by YOSHIDA Akimi
Stars: AYASE Haruka, NAGASAWA Masami, Kaho, HIROSE Suzu
2015/Japan
★★★★☆

This film is based on the latest comic by YOSHIDA Akimi. I was a huge fan of her when I was a teenager. Even though this is good enough reason to see this film, the fact that the director is one of my favourite, KORE-EDA Hirokazu made it unmissable.

Set in Kamakura, the film depicts the daily life of three sisters and their half sister who happened to join them. In many scenes these sisters got together at the dinning table which made me a bit of homesick. For Japanese people, sharing a meal with your family is one of the most important things for your family life.

The director came to the cinema and there was Q&A afterwards. It was interesting to listen to how he directed child actors; he didn't give them script instead he gave them the lines verbally on site and explained about the scene they were going to shoot.

この映画、中高生のころ夢中で読んだ吉田秋生の新作マンガを、大好きな映画監督の1人である是枝裕和が映画化すると聞いて、とても楽しみにしていた1本です。

鎌倉を舞台に、三姉妹とひょんなことから彼女らの暮らしに加わった中学生の異母妹の日常が描かれています。四姉妹が食卓を囲むシーンが頻繁にあって、軽くホームシックに。家族で囲む食卓って、日本人にとっては心の原風景ですよね。

会場に監督がいらしていて、上映後に Q&A がありました。子役には脚本を渡さず、現場で口頭で説明して演じてもらう、という演出方法のお話が興味深かったです。


An
Director/Writer: KAWASE Naomi
Stars: KIKI Kirin, NAGASE Masatoshi, UCHIDA Kyara
2015/Japan=France=Germany
★★★★★

Sentaro works at the dora-yaki (a kind of Japanese sweets) shop and one day an elderly lady Tokue came to him for a part time job at his shop. He rejected her application but she returned with bean paste she had made. Because that bean paste was very tasty, he decided to employ her. His shop attracted a lot of customers with Tokue's bean paste. But when people found out that she was suffering from leprosy, they stopped coming to Sentaro's shop and Tokue left the shop as well. Together with the teenage girl Wakana who is a regular at his shop, Sentaro visited her at the sanatorium. The film depicts their interactions through four seasons (each season was beautifully filmed). I was touched by Tokue's attitude; she calmly accepted her cruel fate.

Before the film, the actor UCHIDA Kyara who played Wakana was on the stage explaining a bit about the film. According to her, they filmed for 60 hours and edited it into two hours. I think the thick layers of time were in the film as background.

どら焼き屋で働く千太郎の元に、年老いた徳江がアルバイトの応募にやって来ます。一度は断る千太郎ですが、再びやって来た徳江が置いて行ったつぶ餡のあまりの美味しさに、彼女を採用することに。やがて徳江のつぶ餡が評判を呼んで、どら焼き屋は大繁盛します。ところが、徳江がハンセン病療養施設から通っている、ということが街の人の噂になると、客足が途絶え、やがて徳江も姿を見せなくなります。千太郎と常連客の中学生・ワカナは療養施設に徳江を訪ねて行って。。。

この映画は、千太郎、徳江、ワカナの4つの季節にわたる交流を描いています(それぞれの季節の風景の美しいこと!)。徳江の静かに運命を受け入れる姿に打たれました。と、同時に、ちょっとした問題にも不満たらたらな己の姿を省みて深く恥じ入りました。。。

上演前にワカナを演じた内田伽羅さんの舞台挨拶があったのですが、なんと60時間も撮影して、それを2時間に編集したのだそう。確かに60時間分の厚み、と言うんでしょうか、そういうものを感じました。

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