Why I Write Stories

—

This latest movie was based on an existing work, but lots of your films came from your own original stories.

Koreeda

Yes.

—

I’d like to ask you why people write stories.

Koreeda

Why people write stories?

—

Yes. Or, rather, why people need stories.

Koreeda

Well, people often say that humans don’t need books or movies to survive.

—

Creators say that sometimes when they’re being modest.

Koreeda

But aren’t these luxuries what separate humans from animals?

—

That’s true.

Koreeda

If you look at history, movies—even just stories—have belonged to the privileged.

—

Propaganda films, or Chinese emperors burning the works of the previous dynasty…

Koreeda

In other words, the powerful found “big” stories necessary to communicate their legitimacy to the public. Stories allowed them to explain why they were in power.

—

Yes.

Koreeda

On the other hand, we commoners have “small” stories, like movies and novels.

—

And long ago they had folklore and fairytales.

Koreeda

Yes, and I think that’s a wonderful thing. There’s always the possibility that those in power will use their “big” stories to reign supreme or hold society in the clutches of nationalism, but the lower classes have their “small” stories to keep them from being swept up in the big ones. That’s why it’s so important to pass on those small but abundant stories.

—

Ah.

Koreeda

I mean, if I were to give a serious answer… (Laughs)

—

No, I totally understand what you mean when you say that what’s important is in the small stories.

Koreeda

But I’ve always just liked writing stories, so I never thought much about the meaning behind it.

—

In your second film, After Life, there’s a scene in which non-actors sit in front of the camera and talk about their most precious memory.

Koreeda

Yeah.

—

There are a few famous people, like Yusuke Iseya and Toru Yuri, but the focus is on average people. It’s strange how fascinating it is just to hear these people talk about their own small stories.

Koreeda

The story itself doesn’t actually mean much to the viewer.

—

Like the story of the person who danced to the nursery rhyme “Red Shoes” as a child.

Koreeda

It’s only special to that person.

—

That’s true. It’s their most precious memory.

Koreeda

That was originally only filmed as research for the screenplay. But it was so interesting that it made it into the film as-is.

—

Oh, really?

Koreeda

So everyone in that scene is telling the truth. It’s unscripted—it’s just people speaking from their hearts about their memories. And that’s what made it so interesting.

—

After you graduated from Waseda University, you joined TV Man Union and worked on lots of documentaries.

Koreeda

Yeah. But it wasn’t actually that many.

—

I was able to interview the director Shoichiro Sasaki the other day.

Koreeda

Oh, really?

—

His habit of casting regular people in main roles gives his works a unique style, so I asked him about the difference between documentary and fiction.

Koreeda

I see.

—

And without missing a beat, he said, “Documentaries pursue facts, while fiction portrays the truth.”

Koreeda

Ah.

—

That really surprised me, because I’d always thought that documentaries portrayed facts, which were interchangeable with truth.

Koreeda

Yeah.

—

What do you think?

Koreeda

I don’t think much about genre. To me, it’s just a method of filming. If I had to elaborate, I would just say that a documentary is a work that portrays the relationship between you and me.

—

Who do you mean by “me”?

Koreeda

“Me” is the side filming the movie, and “you” is the side being filmed. In other words, it’s a second-person perspective. Fiction is something written in first person or third person. The filmmaker takes the first-person perspective of the protagonist, or “me,” and can also portray a world from omniscient third-person perspective.

—

Yes.

Koreeda

So that combination of first- and third-person perspective is fiction, and being limited to that second-person “how I see you” point of view is a documentary.

—

So a documentary is a personal perspective.

Koreeda

If something is objective, it’s fiction.

—

Your point of view is similar to Sasaki’s when he said fiction portrays the truth.

Koreeda

But personally, I think it’s impossible to express something objectively.

—

An objective view is a collection of subjective views.

Koreeda

To put it another way, once you throw away the inner thoughts of the other person and the omniscient viewpoint, it becomes a documentary. A documentary doesn’t pretend to understand what others are thinking.

—

Yeah.

Koreeda

A documentary says, “I am not you.” And fiction says, “I am you, but I’m also omniscient.”

—

That’s interesting.

Koreeda

That’s what makes fiction more arrogant than documentary. It takes a person willing to accept that arrogance to make fiction.

—

Instead of making a documentary.

Koreeda

… This got kind of complicated.

—

No, it’s really interesting!

2016-12-06-Tue

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