The last time I met Atsuro Shimoyashiro was at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2020 for
an interview about his film The Modern Lovers, a bittersweet tale of love temporarily rekindled and the realisation of hopes and dreams dashed. A mutli-hyphenate talent, his name has appeared in the credits of films more often for making musical scores than directing but he is back in 2022/23 with the short film Kidofuji, a tribute to a real-life standing bar located in Tokyo’s Koenji district.
The short, at 11 minutes length, takes us to the bar and lets us listen in on the drama that occurs when two men and a woman meet at the counter and find they have connections with each other. It’s a film shot with one static camera and done in one take and it’s an impressive feat to watch the cast go through comedy to drama and action in one go. It also conveys the fun and convivial atmosphere of the place while also conveying the sorts of chance encounters that might take place there. Despite having lived nearby to Koenji, I never visited it and so the film gave me a serious hankering to drop in and try out some of the food that is mentioned in the film.
Audiences in Japan will get the chance to see it as Kidofuji has been invited to be part of MOOSIC LAB 2023 and it next plays at Cinema SKHole in Nagoya as part of a programme from May 15 and at Theater Seven in Osaka on May 17 (details here).
You can check out my review of the film here.
Curious as to how this was filmed, I asked director Atsuro Shimoyashiro some questions to find out more about the background and also to get some recommendations as to what to order and he provided a lot of interesting answers about the making of and reception of Kidofuji and also the actual place it is set in.
Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. The film gave me a lot to think about and impressed me in a lot of ways, not least in the technique used to capture the story. There are quite a few questions here so any and all answers are appreciated.
インタビューを受けてくれてありがとう。特にストーリーを伝えるために用いられていた技術の面でたくさん考えさせられたし、感動しました。
かなり質問量が多いからいくつかでも全てでも答えてくれると嬉しいです。
Kidofuji is a real-life bar? How did you become connected to it and what inspired you to shoot a film there?
Kidofujiは実際にあるバーか？どのようにしてここと繋がり、なぜここで映画を撮ろうと思ったのか？
下社：きど藤という東京の高円寺という街にある立ち飲み屋です。以前から常連で、コロナ禍で店が営業していない期間もあって、その時くらいからプライベートでも店主の木戸さん、藤田さんと遊ぶそうになりました。私がきど藤を深く愛しているのでこの場所で映画を撮りたいと思い、お願いしました。
Kidofuji is a standing bar in the city of Koenji, Tokyo. I’ve been a regular customer there for a while, and I started hanging out with the store owners, Mr. Kido and Mr. Fuji, around the time when the store was closed due to the pandemic. I deeply love Kidofuji and wanted to film a movie there, so I asked them.
Possibly related to the above, where did the story come from?
恐らく上の質問と関係しますが、脚本はどのように作ったのか？ストーリーはどのようにしてできたのか？
下社：脚本は西岡恭蔵というフォークシンガーの失恋話が根底にあります。それとSNSでキャストは募って、彼らに実際に会って当て書きしたところもあります。
The script is based on the heartbroken love story of Kyozo Nishioka (西岡恭蔵), a folk singer in Japan.
Also, I wrote some of the script after meeting with the actors I picked, whom I recruited on SNS.
Can you describe filming there? Was it closed for the shoot or were you able to shoot while it was open for business?
撮影時の様子を教えてほしい。閉店中だったのか営業中だったのか。
下社：撮影はお店がお正月で休業しているときにしました。営業中には撮っていません。
The filming took place during the New Year’s holiday season, when the bar was closed.
In terms of the staff and customers at the bar, are they all actors or a mixture of professionals and the public?
登場する店員と客について、皆俳優なのか、それともプロとそうでない人が混ざっているのか？
下社：カウンターの中にいる店員のふたりは実際の店員である木戸さんと藤田さんです。
エキストラの方は役者ではないですが、主にカメラの手前で芝居している方は役者さんです。
The two employees behind the counter are Mr. Kido and Mr. Fuji, who are the real owners of the bar.
The extras are not actors, but the ones who are mainly acting in front of the camera are professional actors.
The technique you used was interesting: a single camera, static shot, and it seems one take. What inspired you to shoot this way?
使われているテクニックが興味深い。カメラは一台、フィックス(static shot)、そしてワンテイクのようだ。どうしてこのような撮影方法にしたのか？
下社：名古屋で行われたギャラリーN映画展がフィックス1カットの短編映画を募集していたため、このような撮影方法になりました。そういう撮影方法をしたことがなかったので興味を持ちました。
I filmed in this style because “the gallery N movie exhibition” held in Nagoya was recruiting for movies with static shots and filmed in one cut.
I’ve never made a film this way, so I was interested.
It looks like this film was all done in one take, which is impressive since the cast have to go through various levels of action and dialogue. The actors are all impressive in how they keep things naturalistic and believable while working through the material. How did you prepare them for it and how many takes did it take to get right?
この映画は全てワンテイクで撮影されたように見えるが、これにはキャストがさまざまなレベルで演技とセリフを経ることが求められます。俳優たちは自然で説得力があったし素晴らしかったです。この映画のためにどのような準備をし、また完成まで何テイクかかったでしょうか？
下社：撮影は1日で行いました。まず日中にリハーサルを何度か繰り返し行い、日が暮れてから撮影を始めました。1カットですので途中失敗してNGもでましたが、4テイク目に最後までいって、モニターでプレビューを見て、OKを出しました。ですので、想定より早く撮り終えました。
We filmed it in a day. First, we rehearsed several times during the day and started filming after sunset. It had to be one take, so we failed some times, but on the fourth take, we were able to go all the way until the end. I checked the preview on the monitor and said “OK”. We finished filming sooner than I expected.
There is use of non-diegetic sounds and music that add to the fun. Can you explain a little about their use?
ノンダイジェティックサウンドと音楽の使用がこの映画に楽しさを加えていいます。これらについて少し説明してもらえますか？
下社：1カットですので、画的にも音のギミック的にも、足せるものは足した方が持つだろうと思い、エアギターの場面でバンドの音を出したりしました。話しているバンドは架空のバンドですので私が音楽を作りました。ほかにも冒頭に実際に現場ではなっていない高円寺の駅の音を足したりしています。
Since it’s a one-cut movie, I thought it would be better if we added as many things as we could, both graphically and in terms of sound gimmicks.
The band they’re talking about is a fictional one, so I made the music myself. Also, we added the sound of Koenji Station at the beginning of the film.
There’s a moment of violence that is shocking and acts as a break in the film. How have audiences reacted to that?
映画の流れを中断させる機能を持つ衝撃的な暴力のシーンがありますが、視聴者はこれに対しどのように反応しましたか？
下社：びっくりしたんじゃないでしょうか。男性が女性に暴力をふるうことはいいことではないと思っています。
I think they were surprised and shocked. I am against men’s violence against women.
How has the film been received in general?
この映画は一般的にどのように受け止められましたか？観客の反応は？
下社：日本の立ち飲み屋が好きな人には特に愛されている気がしました。
I think the people who like standing bars in Japan especially loved the film.
The short references the pandemic. How did it affect you?
この映画はパンデミックに言及していますが、コロナ禍はあなたにどのような影響を与えましたか？
下社：コロナ禍によって、一度映画への意欲が著しくなくなりました。自分と向き合う時間が増えて、何もできないことへのストレスも溜まりました。
Because of the Corona pandemic, I lost my motivation for moviemaking once.
I had more time to face myself, and I was feeling stressed from not being able to do anything.
What do you want to viewers to take away from the film?
視聴者に何を持ち帰ってほしいか？(この映画をみて何を思ってほしいか)
下社：東京の片隅で、今夜もこんな光景が広がってるかも、と思ってほしいです。
I want them to think that a sight like this could be seen somewhere in a corner of Tokyo tonight, too.
If a person were to visit Kidofuji, what would you recommend they try?
Kidofujiを訪れる場合、何を注文することをおすすめしますか？
下社：赤星の瓶ビール、肉豆腐、納豆焼き、マグロ刺し。
Sapporo Lager Beer (Akaboshi), Simmered Beef and Tofu (Nikudofu), Grilled Natto, Tuna Sashimi
My thanks go out to Atsuro Shimoyashiro and his team for making the film and also for this interview!