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Press Meeting 28/04/09 -
Shimako Sato and Shuji Abe »
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Published by fareastfilmon 28 April 2009in News FEFF.
Tags: far east, far east film, far east film festival, feff, press meeting.
A superhero film in which the hero in question is not strong and ends up having to be saved by a woman, K-20: Legend of the Mask is certainly not your usual Hollywood fare. Set in 1949, Sato’s film is set in a Japan which has bypassed World War II, and therefore, a Japan which still has the old class system, with a wealthy aristocracy lording it over the poor.
Sato says that as most of the popular superheroes in Japan are American imports (Batman, Superman etc.), she wanted to make a film about a truly Japanese superhero. The idea for this film came to executive producer Abe Shuji twenty years ago, when he read the Edogawa Rampo novel Shonen tanteidan: nijumenso no fukushu (literal translation: Boy Detectives vs. Evil Twenty Faces) and decided that the story would work well on the big screen. On his decision to choose a female director for this project, Abe says, “Women directors in Japan don’t normally have the opportunity to make big budget films like this, and so I decided that I would give this production to one. I knew Shimako personally before this project and was aware of her reputation as a capable director - and I’m very satisfied with the results.”
When asked whether her being a woman affected the choices she made for this film, Sato replied, “Yes actually, when I was preparing the script, I decided that I wanted Matsu Takako’s character to save the day to contradict the damsel in distress stereotype, to show that woman can be powerful too.” She also names manga (“Akira” is among her all-time favorites) and Hayao Miyazaki’s films as her inspiration for this film - in fact, she was pleased when told that esthetically, K-20 looks like a live action version of a Miyazaki animation.
Both are pleasantly surprised by the warm reception of the film by the FEFF audience at the screening of the film yesterday evening, given that they stress that the film was made predominantly for the Japanese market. Despite initially having to adjust to a new way of filming because of the big budget and the CG scenes involved, Sato says she would love to continue making films of this genre.
Should we be expecting a K-21? “Maybe even a K-22,” she muses.
Sharon Lee
Press Room - news production
http://www.fareastfilmtheblog.co ... i-abe-20090428.html
