No Moonlight Shadow without her
Filming with Nana Komatsu: Edmund Yeo Special Interview
Second interview with director Edmund Yeo, a shorter one with a focus on his lead actress in Moonlight Shadow. The first interview was published by French media outlet Blog Fascinant Japon. Many thanks to Edmund Yeo for his time and kindness…
As soon as the Moonlight Shadow project was launched you and your team decided to have Komatsu Nana as the lead…which performances in her body of work made you think she’d be the right choice to play Satsuki?
I have followed Nana‘s career since I first saw The World of Kanako back in 2014. I was indeed astounded by her performance then, and knew she was going to become something special.
I guess she managed to fulfil the promise by becoming one of the most exciting Japanese actresses of her generations over the years. Doing different films of different genres and staying supremely prolific.
Her brief appearance in Martin Scorsese‘s Silence was particularly memorable. And her follow-up collaboration with Nakashima in It Comes showed how she imbued an initially cartoonish caricature with soul and depth, standing out among an all-star cast. Since then, she has been consistently great in other works I saw, like manga adaptations such as After the Rain, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure etc…
Therefore, when we were discussing the role of Satsuki, Nana was absolutely our first and only option. We knew very well that there wouldn’t be a Moonlight Shadow without her.
Read moreMoonlight Shadow Stage Greetings
Moonlight Shadow, the screen adaptation of Banana Yoshimoto‘s famous novella is set for a nationwide release in Japan on Friday September 10. On Wednesday September 1, at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo, there was a press conference.
The two leads, i.e. Nana Komatsu and Hio Miyazawa, and two supporting cast members (Nana Nakahara and Himi Sato) attended in the company of novelist Banana Yoshimoto. Director Edmund Yeo made a surprise screen appearance, live from Malaysia !
Banana Yoshimoto said, among other things, that she was very pleased with the film and praised director Edmund Yeo for the poetry and the visuals as well as Nana Komatsu for her impersonation of Satsuki and heartfelt performance…
Elle on Elle 2021
With two new films about to hit Japanese theaters in the near future – Moonlight Shadow on September 10 and Parasite in Love in November – actress and model Komatsu Nana comes under the spotlight these days and the odds are it’ll be like that until late fall at least.
Over the years she has graced the covers of countless magazines in Japan and overseas, mainstream or indie, glossy and niche-like but though she’s been a regular guest of Elle Japan for featured articles, the cover of Elle Japan was missing in her big collection. This has just been fixed with the October edition of Elle: We Love Paris ! The actress and Chanel House Ambassador wears Chanel 2021/22 ready-to-wear collection, photographs by Shunya Arai of Yard Tokyo.
The October issue of Elle Japan is available from many online stores like Amazon Japan. For other stores and the digital edition please check Elle Shop.
TV Promo for Moonlight Shadow
TV shows and appearances compilation post for the ongoing Moonlight Shadow promotional campaign. Director Edmund Yeo‘s adaptation of Banana Yoshimoto‘s novel will hit Japanese theaters on September 10. Stay tuned and bookmark this for updates !
Doudeska TV (TBS) – August 16
Trabzon Selection
Shot in Turkey and marketed as ‘Nana Komatsu First Photo Collection‘ the Trabzon photobook was released on March 1, 2016. The 92 pages book offered 43 pictures of the young actress and model as well as shots of various places with locals.
Copies are still available for about $20 from several online stores like Amazon Japan or CD Japan. Just below is a limited selection of scans from ‘Trabzon’. Photographs by Keita Goto.
