Moonlight Shadow at T.I.F.F.

Moonlight Shadow had its Japanese theatrical release on September 10 so Monday’s screening at T.I.F.F. hardly was a premiere for the film which was part of the Nippon Cinema Now selection. It was though, for actress Komatsu Nana who officially attended the famous festival for the very first time. On November 1, at 6.20 p.m. JST, the lights went off at the Toho Cinema in Hibiya, Tokyo and the audience watched Edmund Yeo’s poetic adaptation of Banana Yoshimoto‘s novella.

It’s a journey into pain, sorrow and grief yet with a touch of lightness as well as hope and recovery in the end. Having watched it four times, I won’t back down: the film is beauty, Nana Komatsu’s perf a stellar one.

There were stage greetings and a Q&A session, co-stars Hio Miyazawa and Himi Sato joined in…

‘The director and cast are quite unique. I was excited to see what kind of world they would take me to’ (Nana Komatsu, Monday’s Q&A)

‘The blend of Yeo’s elegant and poetically flavoured composition and Komatsu’s pitch perfect performance offers the spectator one of the most touching explorations of the inability to mourn (…) With his latest, Edmund Yeo affirms that he is one of the most accomplished visual poets of contemporary Asian cinema.’ from Psychocinematography

salon talk

Earlier in the morning (11 a.m. JST), Moonlight Shadow Director Edmund Yeo was the guest of T.I.F.F. Salon Talk. In a special report Eiga.com reminds us of Yeo’s close ties with T.IF.F. a festival which awarded him as Best Director in 2017 for Aqerat, We The Dead.

Edmund Yeo talked about his special relationship with Japan (he graduated from Waseda University) and his love for Japanese literature, especially Kawabata, Haruki Murakami and of course Banana Yoshimoto who wrote the novella he made into a movie.

Once again, the director praised his actors, especially Nana Komatsu: ‘I’ve been watching her since her debut film The World of Kanako and was impressed by her sensitive acting. After watching her later works, I realized that she could play a variety of roles with great dexterity. I was happy when I actually made an offer to her and she replied that we could work together‘

Sources: Oricon News (video) – Oricon News (report) – Movie Walker – Natalie Music – Model Press 1 – Model Press 2 – Nikkan Sports – Entertainment Frontier – Universal Press Japan – Fuji TV News – Hio Miyazawa (Twitter) – Eiga.com (Edmund Yeo) – Screen Plus Online – Movie Core – Eiga.com (TIFF Q&A report)