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"Maborosi", "Nobody Knows", "Air Doll", "Still Walking",
"Like Father, Like Son", "Our Little Sister", "After the Storm"...
Japan's National Director - Hirokazu Kore-eda's first semi-autobiographical work
The definitive "Kore-eda Book," conceived over eight years
The most complete record of his thirty-year creative journey
Exploring the methods, techniques, and possibilities of how all his works "can continue to express the present era"
A volume destined to make history in cinema has been born!
This book is a retrospective of Hirokazu Kore-eda's nearly 30-year creative career, from graduating Waseda University in 1987 and beginning to shoot documentaries until now. From documentaries and TV dramas to films, his focus gradually shifted from social issues to exploring the meaning of family and memory in people's lives through everyday moments. In addition to the origins and concepts of each work, it also describes the people and events he encountered during filming that moved him, as well as his suggestions for the television and film industries (including the future of TV dramas and how the Tokyo International Film Festival can compare with other international film festivals). It took Kore-eda eight years to complete this semi-autobiographical work, which combines text, manuscripts, and photos. It can be seen as an ending to his past creative journey and another starting point for his continued creation in the future.
After leaving school, Hirokazu Kore-eda primarily focused on making TV documentaries, paying attention to social issues (welfare policies, government official suicides, etc.). His initial films, "Maborosi" and "Nobody Knows", also focused on these themes. "Nobody Knows," which was inspired by the 1988 Tokyo Sugamo child abandonment case and earned the youngest ever Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, actually originated in Nagano. In 1991, Kore-eda, experiencing a creative slump, went to Ina Elementary School in Nagano Prefecture to film children raising calves. He immersed himself in their lives, but at a dinner party before he left, the class teacher told him, "Although you've had a fulfilling and pleasant time with us, this is ultimately a place for me and these students. You still need to return to Tokyo and find your own place." This idea of "finding his place in Tokyo" later became the catalyst for "Nobody Knows."
"Maborosi," which won the Golden Osella Award at the 52nd Venice International Film Festival, was initially intended by TV producers as a TV drama. Unexpectedly, Kore-eda, a fan of Teru Miyamoto since high school, decided to turn it into a film after seeing the initial script, a project that would cost 300 million yen. To save money, the setting was moved from Kansai to Tokyo. The original lead actress dropped out, and he sought help from master photographer Kishin Shinoyama. With a 50 million yen funding gap, filming began anyway, and Kore-eda drew 300 storyboards for his directorial debut feature film. When he showed these manuscripts to director Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Hou told him, "Your technique is excellent. The question is, did you draw all the storyboards before filming?" "Shouldn't the camera placement be decided after observing the actors' performance on set? You've made documentaries; you should know that, right?" These words were a revelation, making Kore-eda admire Hou even more. Lacking confidence, he never let storyboards constrain him again.
"Still Walking" marked a turning point where Hirokazu Kore-eda shifted his focus from social issues to everyday life. His mother passed away before she could see "Nobody Knows." He transformed his regret into the promotional phrase for "Still Walking," "Life is always a little too late," writing it on the first page of his notebook and beginning to write the script. Before character development, he had two major settings for the story. One was to "make a film that ends with a quiet murmur of 'a little too late'." The other was a scene where, during an uncomfortable Obon festival evening between a mother and son, the song "Yokohama Blue Light" suddenly plays. This film is somewhat autobiographical, and its Japanese title, "Aruitemo Aruitemo" (Walking, Walking), is the beginning of the chorus of that song (the record sold over 1.5 million copies). At that time, Tokyo and Nerima were filled with factories, and family outings typically involved just taking a bus to Ikebukuro. In such an environment, the sound of the word "Yokohama" and the image of singer Ayumi Ishida skating in a blue sailor suit were so urban, creating a huge impact. Because that memory persisted, it was decided to become the film's title.
Hirokazu Kore-eda poured all his ideas about family dramas into "After the Storm." There were many reasons for wanting to make this film, one of which was, "I wanted to film Ms. Kirin again." Also, having grown up in a community, he always wanted to make a family story set in a community, incorporating some of his personal experiences. For instance, the scene where the protagonist returns to the community to search for his father's scroll when his mother is not home is a real experience. When his mother said, "I threw away all your father's things after the funeral," Kore-eda was quite shocked, so he embellished that memory into that scene. He realized that the strong personal DNA exists in this film; it's not a film to be described as a magnum opus or representative work by forcefully puffing out one's chest, but rather a feeling of something revealing itself with a relaxed posture from beginning to end—half out of desire, for family dramas, for the community, for a mother who died alone in the community, and for the regret and resigned love for a protagonist whose life did not turn out as he wished. Kore-eda recalls watching Federico Fellini's "La Strada" and "Nights of Cabiria" at the ACT small theater at Waseda University when he was nineteen, which made him realize that love can be filmed. Perhaps the quantity, quality, and purity of his love cannot compare with others, but he poured all his love into "After the Storm."
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"Like Father, Like Son", "Our Little Sister", "After the Storm"...
Japan's National Director - Hirokazu Kore-eda's first semi-autobiographical work
The definitive "Kore-eda Book," conceived over eight years
The most complete record of his thirty-year creative journey
Exploring the methods, techniques, and possibilities of how all his works "can continue to express the present era"
A volume destined to make history in cinema has been born!
This book is a retrospective of Hirokazu Kore-eda's nearly 30-year creative career, from graduating Waseda University in 1987 and beginning to shoot documentaries until now. From documentaries and TV dramas to films, his focus gradually shifted from social issues to exploring the meaning of family and memory in people's lives through everyday moments. In addition to the origins and concepts of each work, it also describes the people and events he encountered during filming that moved him, as well as his suggestions for the television and film industries (including the future of TV dramas and how the Tokyo International Film Festival can compare with other international film festivals). It took Kore-eda eight years to complete this semi-autobiographical work, which combines text, manuscripts, and photos. It can be seen as an ending to his past creative journey and another starting point for his continued creation in the future.
After leaving school, Hirokazu Kore-eda primarily focused on making TV documentaries, paying attention to social issues (welfare policies, government official suicides, etc.). His initial films, "Maborosi" and "Nobody Knows", also focused on these themes. "Nobody Knows," which was inspired by the 1988 Tokyo Sugamo child abandonment case and earned the youngest ever Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, actually originated in Nagano. In 1991, Kore-eda, experiencing a creative slump, went to Ina Elementary School in Nagano Prefecture to film children raising calves. He immersed himself in their lives, but at a dinner party before he left, the class teacher told him, "Although you've had a fulfilling and pleasant time with us, this is ultimately a place for me and these students. You still need to return to Tokyo and find your own place." This idea of "finding his place in Tokyo" later became the catalyst for "Nobody Knows."
"Maborosi," which won the Golden Osella Award at the 52nd Venice International Film Festival, was initially intended by TV producers as a TV drama. Unexpectedly, Kore-eda, a fan of Teru Miyamoto since high school, decided to turn it into a film after seeing the initial script, a project that would cost 300 million yen. To save money, the setting was moved from Kansai to Tokyo. The original lead actress dropped out, and he sought help from master photographer Kishin Shinoyama. With a 50 million yen funding gap, filming began anyway, and Kore-eda drew 300 storyboards for his directorial debut feature film. When he showed these manuscripts to director Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Hou told him, "Your technique is excellent. The question is, did you draw all the storyboards before filming?" "Shouldn't the camera placement be decided after observing the actors' performance on set? You've made documentaries; you should know that, right?" These words were a revelation, making Kore-eda admire Hou even more. Lacking confidence, he never let storyboards constrain him again.
"Still Walking" marked a turning point where Hirokazu Kore-eda shifted his focus from social issues to everyday life. His mother passed away before she could see "Nobody Knows." He transformed his regret into the promotional phrase for "Still Walking," "Life is always a little too late," writing it on the first page of his notebook and beginning to write the script. Before character development, he had two major settings for the story. One was to "make a film that ends with a quiet murmur of 'a little too late'." The other was a scene where, during an uncomfortable Obon festival evening between a mother and son, the song "Yokohama Blue Light" suddenly plays. This film is somewhat autobiographical, and its Japanese title, "Aruitemo Aruitemo" (Walking, Walking), is the beginning of the chorus of that song (the record sold over 1.5 million copies). At that time, Tokyo and Nerima were filled with factories, and family outings typically involved just taking a bus to Ikebukuro. In such an environment, the sound of the word "Yokohama" and the image of singer Ayumi Ishida skating in a blue sailor suit were so urban, creating a huge impact. Because that memory persisted, it was decided to become the film's title.
Hirokazu Kore-eda poured all his ideas about family dramas into "After the Storm." There were many reasons for wanting to make this film, one of which was, "I wanted to film Ms. Kirin again." Also, having grown up in a community, he always wanted to make a family story set in a community, incorporating some of his personal experiences. For instance, the scene where the protagonist returns to the community to search for his father's scroll when his mother is not home is a real experience. When his mother said, "I threw away all your father's things after the funeral," Kore-eda was quite shocked, so he embellished that memory into that scene. He realized that the strong personal DNA exists in this film; it's not a film to be described as a magnum opus or representative work by forcefully puffing out one's chest, but rather a feeling of something revealing itself with a relaxed posture from beginning to end—half out of desire, for family dramas, for the community, for a mother who died alone in the community, and for the regret and resigned love for a protagonist whose life did not turn out as he wished. Kore-eda recalls watching Federico Fellini's "La Strada" and "Nights of Cabiria" at the ACT small theater at Waseda University when he was nineteen, which made him realize that love can be filmed. Perhaps the quantity, quality, and purity of his love cannot compare with others, but he poured all his love into "After the Storm."
