Parasites on Friday

The latest promotional activities for Parasite in Love, the new movie from director Kensaku Kakimoto: new extended trailer, special interview article on Cinra.net, film stills (outtakes), other interviews, TV appearances etc… Now it’s just 2 days to go before the nationwide theatrical release on Friday 12.

The Cinra.net interview with director Kakimoto and his two leads, i.e. Nana Komatsu and Kento Hayashi, is quite remarkable. It’s a long one but really worth reading, an in-depth take on their thoughts about solitude, the anxieties the covid crisis brought about, the status of minorities, the way the actors faced challenging roles… you will find below a translation of short selected excerpts.

I made ‘Parasite in Love’, which is not a common love story, but a film about two people who can’t lead a normal social life. (Kensaku Kakimoto)

Nana Komatsu: ‘Loneliness can be converted into a positive motivation depending on how you look at it. For example, when I’m acting, I’m also lonely. In the end, it’s up to you to decide whether it’s going to work or not, and there are moments when you feel alone, when you’re in deep trouble. But I can work hard because I know how much joy and sense of achievement I get when I overcome such suffering and do well. I think it depends on the situation and environment in which you feel lonely, but I don’t think it’s necessarily just a negative factor.’

‘I like to spend time alone, not only at work but also in my private life. I can think of countless things, I can do what I want to do, and it’s a valuable time for input and output. It’s when you have time to face yourself that you realise what’s important and find things to be absorbed in. Of course there are moments when I feel lonely and sad, but I hope that such time and experience will give me the opportunity to reflect on my thoughts and values.’

Kento Hayashi: ‘The covid crisis hit us just when the filming of ‘Parasites in Love’ was over. It was a time when everyone was worried about what was going to happen to the world, and like Nana-chan, all my work came to a halt, and I was thinking, ‘What can I do?’ I had been thinking only about acting, so I wondered if I could survive in the future, and at times I felt crushed by anxiety and loneliness.’

Kensaku Kakimoto: ‘Maybe we feel safer when we share our anxiety with someone. I think people tend to be very anxious about things they can’t see like the future and what other people are thinking. I think that if we carry that anxiety too much on our own, it leads to loneliness.’

‘Parasite in Love is really a work that is made from the perspective of a minority in society. In the modern society we live in, the opinions of the majority, who have the economic power, the power, and the power to speak, tend to be perceived as the right ones, so I think there are people who think that it’s wrong for them to be ‘inferior’ (…) A culture of forgiveness should lead to the diversification of society, but it’s not really catching on in Japan, is it? I myself had doubts about the state of society today, so I wanted to portray the feelings of minorities.’

Nana Komatsu: ‘I also really feel that I have the support of the people around me when I’m working. I especially love being on set, it’s everything to me. I love the time we spend together, exposing our imperfections and helping each other to complete a project. It’s a relief for me because I feel like I have a place where I belong.’

New Extended Trailer

Eiga board interview article

Full interview of director Kensaku Kakimoto for Eiga Board. We get many details about how the film developed while filming, the director’s surprise when he was offered the project to adapt the novel (he’s not used to dealing with love stories) and his will to make the film something personal. Kakimoto-san praises his actors at length for their acting abilities and also for the help and advice they gave because he felt he lacked experience as a feature film maker. (Tuesday 9)

Here’s an excerpt on which he develops about Nana Komatsu:

‘There are two things. First, the explosiveness of her instantaneous bursts of energy is amazing. Even if I just talk to her a little bit, as soon as she says, ‘Yes, I’ll give it a try,’ it’s like she bursts into action. I was surprised, but it’s really good. On the other hand, her quiet acting is also wonderful. There was a scene where she cried alone in the hospital, and the tears flowed so effortlessly that I was drawn in. Her profile was absolutely beautiful. And the scene at the lake was the best. Nana’s line then was what I wanted to say the most in this film. It was a scene aimed at the audience (…) That’s when Nana gave me her brilliant performance. I was impressed from the very beginning, and even when I was editing the film, I was still impressed, even though I knew what I was doing because I was there on the set.’

Outtakes

Movie Walker Interview

Interview of the two co-stars published online on Tuesday 9. The two discuss their roles, the challenges they faced and the friendly atmosphere of cooperation generated by their conversations on the set…