Stardust and Model

On the eve of the Japanese theatrical release of The Last Ten Years aka Yomei Ten Nen/余命10年, two interesting interviews were published on Thursday March 3. One by Model Press (Sakaguchi Kentaro and Komatsu Nana), the other by Stardust (Komatsu Nana) the actress’ agency…

The young actress discusses her role, her working relationship with co-star Kentaro Sakaguchi and the challenges she had to face. Though the film required less than two months of shooting, it was extended over a year because director Michihito Fujii wanted to provide a real feel of the changing of seasons. That was part of his intention to film the life of Matsuri, the main character, with a documentary aspect.

In order to portray Matsuri, Komatsu Nana talked to the family of writer Ruka Kosaka who put a lot of herself in the novel, met people who suffered from the same disease and it helped her in shaping a character who would look realistic without exaggerating. She praised director Michihito Fujii for his script, a well written piece that makes the characters appealing.

Nana Komatsu stated that there were also lots of happy moments during the filming sessions. As she decided to lose weight to give her character a more realistic touch, she was often hungry and her stomach would growl in the middle of a take. She recalls with emotion the final day of the shooting when it was time to part, the sense of fulfilment and the lesson the film taught her: life is precious.