Why are you making a Japanese film with a Japanese protagonist?

 

This is a question many people have asked me.Three years ago, I immigrated to Japan, partly for family reasons and partly due to my longing for more freedom in creating, free from the constraints of scrutiny and censorship. In this new environment, what are the goals and boundaries of my creativity?For the Japanese, now and in the future, I will forever be seen as a foreigner. Where do my value and energy come from? Perhaps only from within me, from my unique perspective as a foreigner with a different cultural background looking at the world. Not Japanese, not American, not European... but Chinese.

 

The new environment and culture have provided me with incredibly strong stimulation, albeit very fragmented. Everything from the different attitudes toward life and death to the simple exchange of morning greetings with neighbors is vastly different from my previous country. What may be overlooked by the majority of Japanese in their daily lives is full of freshness and excitement for me. Slowly, these details of everyday life and dramatic scenes have seeped into my creative work. These fragmentary elements start to come together, much like the process of assembling a jigsaw puzzle, where the picture becomes gradually clearer but still lacks completeness, with some crucial pieces still missing.

 

The inspiration for the film is based on the misunderstanding of a friend's solo trip being mistaken for a suicide, a beautiful yet melancholic misunderstanding. The themes and relationships presented have captivated me.

 

There are already many Japanese films that touch on the theme of suicide. What is the value of my film? In fact, despite being from the East, the differences between Chinese culture and Japanese culture remain significant. It is likely that these differences are where the value of this film resides.

 

Faced with such an ultimate theme, I actually don't know how to approach it. I can only follow my instincts, creating and contemplating. It has been about three years, and there have been times when progress has stalled due to uncertainty about how to proceed.

 

In 2023, the collective suicide of four Chinese youths at Tianmen Mountain in Hubei had a significant impact on me. Looking back over the three years of the pandemic, people's perspectives on life and death have been under constant scrutiny. While all reasons concerning life and death seem superficial and unconvincing, with deeper explorations and structural development of this story, or in trying to interpret the theme from different angles, the story has become interesting and clearer.

 

As I crafted and contemplated, the process took nearly three years. At certain points, progression stalled due to uncertainty about how to proceed, but with each dive into the story's depth and structure, or in attempting to interpret the theme through different angles and perspectives, the story became intriguing and clear.I feel that my creative process is much like that of a field investigation or the creation of a documentary. It's not about fabricating a story, but more about discovering and constructing one. It seems to be deeply intertwined with my life. The entire process has brought me immense joy and has prompted me to seriously consider the kind of life I desire, my relationships with family, and even the direction of my future.In 1977, a student at the University of Tokyo used a mathematical formula to calculate the result of their own suicide and then took their own life. In some ways, I feel that my work is similar to that suicide calculation, foolish and meaningless.

 

The themes I attempt to present or the answers I seek may never truly have a resolution. Just as I am about to face a new and unpredictable future in this new country.

 

Some of my familiar friends ask me the question, "Why are you making a Japanese film?" This might imply, as a relatively successful photographer in China who has worked on numerous successful commercial films, why would I choose to create a low-budget authorial film in Japan that emphasizes personal expression?

 

On a film set in Japan, there are only a dozen or so people, whereas shoots in China involve thousands of individuals, with the photography crew alone being four to five times the size of the entire crew at present.The truth is that filmmaking is my means of livelihood and pathway, and I also acknowledge and appreciate its entertainment and commercial value. As more of my life becomes dedicated to film, it has gradually become a part of my life. It may even become the bridge through which I have dialogues with the world.

 

I love film, but I find myself increasingly drawn to what kind of film is worth investing in, as well as the manner in which to capture it and the kind of relationship I will establish with the world through film.Although I find it deeply compelling to film the story of a new country as a new immigrant, it seems that films recognized for their expression and communication by authors from different cultural backgrounds are few and far between. How do you face a seemingly hopeless future? I choose to use my own funds to complete the filming. I don't owe it to anyone. I choose, as a Chinese individual, to express myself and communicate with a sincere voice, humbly exposing myself. This film has no answers, may be somewhat ambiguous, incomprehensible, and may even lead to misunderstandings in China in the future, but I believe these are not the most significant issues. The most significant issue is whether this film reflects my innermost truth.

 

I hope for this somewhat experimental production method to expand certain boundaries in the future, or provide a different form of expression.Moreover, I should create and present films in my personal manner and in a way that I consider valuable. Films should be defined by what I consider fitting. Films should also be defined by countless filmmakers as they see fit.