ROUNDUP: FEFF 2017
Japanese Stars Shine in Italy
Every April, the quiet Italian town of Udine turns into a city of stars. The Far East Film Festival (FEFF), which celebrated its 19th iteration in Udine from April 21 - 29, has been keen on introducing Japanese stars to Italian audiences, and this year’s lineup did not disappoint. Kenichi Matsuyama, Takumi Saito and Aya Ueto were among the Japanese actors who accompanied their new features, and appeared on stage before the film screenings.
On the second evening of the festival, Satoshi: A Move for Tomorrow was unveiled to the enthusiastic crowd, with a stage appearance by Matsuyama and director Yoshitaka Mori. Chosen as the closing film of the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival, Satoshi offers the poignant character study of Satoshi Murayama, a legendary shogi (Japanese chess) player, whose shining career didn’t last so long due to a fatal medical condition.
Satoshi: A Move for Tomorrow by Yoshitaka Mori (聖の青春 Satoshi no Seishun)
Matsuken, as his fans call him, is a chameleon who has played diverse roles, but says that this was the most challenging of his career. “The role required a lot from me in both internal and external approaches. Among past films that I have appeared in, there were not so many roles that were very challenging for me. But this one, I thought, would be very challenging. I felt Murayama-san was someone far away, because his lifestyle was so pure and, in a way, beautiful. I was happy to challenge myself to approximate the character as closely as possible.”
Since the protagonist is someone who actually existed in real life, Matsuyama felt the need to approach the character in a different manner than usual: “Most of films produced in Japan are based on manga. When I play roles from manga, it’s common to add characteristics so that I can fit the image of the originals.”
Star Kenichi Matsuyama talks to the crowd.
He continued, “Since Murayama is a real figure, I thought it was better to subtract, rather than to add. That was quite scary, but I believe there’s so much more you can gain from subtraction than addition. And I could share that with the filmmaker.”
Robert De Niro famously gained weight for Martin Scorsese’s Raising Bull, and Matsuyama packed on pounds for Satoshi, which can be seen as a kind of mental boxing drama. “Gaining weight and playing shogi was a way to get to a goal,” says the actor. “It was painful sometimes, but mostly I could enjoy doing that. One day I was eating chips in bed with my daughter and got scolded by my wife,” he laughed.
But he admitted facing a real ordeal when he had to lose weight: “Many Japanese foods contain carbohydrates and don’t help me to lose weight, so I decided to go to the States. I thought there would be lots of vegetables and salads in America and eating those foods and getting regular exercise would help me reduce my weight. But surprisingly, the food was so wonderful, much more than I expected. It was quite a struggle, but I could make use of that time that I couldn’t work, for about 9 or 10 months, by traveling from New York to Seattle, doing things I can do only by myself. And somehow I managed to get back to my original weight.”
Hirugao: Love Affairs in the Afternoon (昼顔 Hirugao)
Popular actor Takumi Saito and singer-actress Aya Ueto, the stars of Hirugao: Love Affairs in the Afternoon, were warmly welcomed at the world premiere screening at Udine.
Saito, who was returning again to Udine after The Kodai Family last year, had this to say about the festival: “The Udine lineup presents a range of Asian cinema. I’m very glad to come back with a film that is totally different from last year.”
Hirugao is based on a popular television series that has established Saito’s reputation as the sexiest actor in Japan. In terms of own star persona, Saito said, “I don’t feel negative about having a fixed image. I’m happy to be bestowed with the color and taste of an actor through my work. Now I believe it’s important to play with that image, like a swinging pendulum, including working on variety shows.”
Stars Aya Ueto and Takumi Saito
Ueto, who seemed more relaxed and frank in Italy than she is in her homeland, talked honestly about her career in a surprisingly funny manner. “I hate singing. Some albums I’ve released were completely against my will,” she said with a laugh. “Whenever I had to appear on music shows on TV, I was crying.”
When asked about a modeling contest which she won at the age of 12, Ueto revealed that her only interest was purchasing a house for parents: “I never dreamed of becoming an actress. It’s only recently that I could enjoy acting.”
By Kenta Kato
Kenta Kato is a Tokyo-based writer, film critic and festival programmer, currently working on a PhD degree in Film at Waseda University.