Sustainable development meets youth love story in Edo era Japan as a manure man (Kanichiro) and a samurai’s daughter (Haru Kuroki) attempt to breach caste boundaries and realise their love just as the nation opens up to the outside world. Okiku and the World is the latest work from veteran director Junji Sakamoto. An unexpected treat, its beautiful sets, black-and-white photography, and narrow aspect ratio created an immersive and deeply atmospheric recreation of the past while the characters were vividly portrayed by a range of top actors who brought to life people making do with what they had and searching for happiness amidst human waste and tumultuous times.
The film truly moved me and I felt as if I was transported back in time to watch characters endure various hardships via humour and pure expressions of love. It was funny, moving, and the emotion of love that I saw on the screen made me cry and reach out to my most cherished person and tell her how I feel. It is my favourite film of the year.
Having already won an array of awards, including Best Director at the 24th Japan Academy Prize for Face (2000), director Sakamoto attended the New York Asian Film Festival 2023 to collect a Lifetime Achievement Award and to present Okiku and the World to viewers and I was able to interview director Sakamoto thanks to the organisers.
Here is the interview:
Hello Sakamoto-san
Thank you for taking part in this interview. Also, thank you and the cast and crew for making Okiku and the World. I was truly moved by the experience of being transported back in time and witnessing a love story where the emotion is delivered with ingenuity and feels pure – despite all of the poop!
Okiku and the World immediately stood out because previous works of yours that I had seen had been set in modern times. Instead, we get a period drama with a set of characters we rarely see on the screen, those whose trade revolves around poop.
Could you explain where the idea came from, what sort of research about the poop ecosystem you did? What it was like to write it?
When producer Mitsuo Harada offered me the chance to make a film on the theme of coexistence with the environment and nature, I initially felt that enlightening films were not my cup of tea, but then I learned about the circular economy related to manure in the Edo period and became interested, so I began writing the screenplay. I consulted research books on the Edo period’s “filth mongers” (professionals who sold and bought feces and urine and transported them to farmers), as well as illustrations depicting their lives. I also visited a museum that displayed a miniature of a manure-carrying boat and related explanations, which were used by the art team to recreate the boat used in the film. While writing the script, I realized that this is not a story of the distant past, but an issue that is connected to the current crisis between nature and humankind. In addition, I felt that the theme should be kept in the background and become a story about people.
I loved that you made a coming-of-age drama/romance that fit the changing of Japanese society. You were able to add theme of class and write that into the character interactions. Beyond using poop as a contrast for the lifestyles of the central couple, it is also part of the idea of reusing materials – from poop to scrap paper – that the film displays. Could you explain more of that theme and why you chose to add it to the film?
The word “reuse” is in vogue now, but in the Edo period, usable items were repaired, used up, and circulated as many times as possible. This way of life was born out of a sense of urgency in Japan, where resources were scarce, and the situation is no different in modern Japan. However, today’s Japanese are so consumed with convenience that they are unaware of their own carelessness. I thought I would like to support Mr. Harada’s desire to create a film with the SDGs (editors note: sustainable development goals) in mind.
I felt that shooting in black and white and the narrow aspect ratio worked well with the locations to create beautiful visual compositions. There was so much character to the street scenes. Could you explain why you chose to shoot in B&W and also the choice in aspect ratio?
A monochrome, standard-size film has been a dream of mine for a long time. However, in today’s film industry, black-and-white films are regarded as cheap, and it is difficult to get them accepted as a project. However, the starting point for this film was that it was an independent production, so it was easy to ignore corporate concepts and rules. Since the snowy scene was set from the beginning, I thought it would be more beautiful to shoot in black and white than in color. Also, I think the depth of the tenement house was emphasized more by the standard size.
Was this shot at Toei Uzumasa Eigamura?
The film was shot on permanent sets at two studios in Kyoto: Toei Kyoto Studio (Eigamura) and Shochiku Kyoto Studio. Other locations were shot in Kyoto Prefecture. Some locations are in the Kanto area.
The film features a lot of fixed camerawork but the end sequence features a pan and there’s a change in lens. Could you describe your intent with that? Was it the suggestion of freedom that came with the change in society?
In shooting the film, we decided in advance to use a fix as much as possible. However, for the last scene, we also mounted a fisheye-like lens and also moved a lot. In the scene just before that, at the temple, the priest says, “The world is like this: if you go that way, you will always come back this way. I wanted to express the world as a sphere and as something endless, so I am glad that this could be interpreted as an allusion to freedom.
You have a great cast on screen. What was their reaction to the script when they first read it?
I think they thought it was bold and challenging. I think they were amused by the fact that they would never get a role like this again, and they were surprised by the repeated use of the word “shit,” but I think they interpreted it as a resistance to the current Japanese film industry.
Could you explain a little about how you prepared everyone for their roles/scenes? Were there a lot of rehearsals and a few takes, for example?
We discussed with the actors well in advance of the shoot about the temperament of their roles and the inner workings of their professions. We trained the two defilers to practice carrying a tub with a balance bar. They practiced carrying the heavy bucket as they were accustomed to doing without losing their balance, wearing the costumes they would use in the film, on the studio grounds. Also, getting used to wearing wooden sandals and straw sandals.
Haru Kuroki is absolutely fantastic as Okiku. She was terrifying at first as a prideful daughter of a samurai before softening up and her comedy skills were really funny. Why did you select her and how did you work with her to develop her character’s physical expressions we see later in the film?
Of course, I had been eyeing her for some time, and with Mr. Harada’s recommendation, I cast her. She is wonderful at acting without any unnecessary tricks and acting from the heart. Her timing is remarkable, and she has a great sense of humor. In addition, it must have been the first time for her to act after losing her voice, and because it was the first time for her, she must have felt freshness, which is expressed in the freshness of her performance. However, since sign language was not established in the Edo period, she must have been puzzled, but she had no choice but to act from her heart and left the hand gestures and other expressions to her. Her demeanor, the way she wears her kimono, the way she handles her geta (wooden clogs), and the way she carries herself in kimono are perfect. She looks like someone who lived in that era.
Kanichiro is a strong co-star. Why did you select him and what was it like working with both him and his father Koichi Sato?
The two of them had played father and son together once in a previous film of mine, and at that time, Kanichiro was also firm, but it was very frugal and good. I don’t like actors who try to trick me, so this was our second time working together, and we were not conscious of each other. It is an attempt to pass on concepts such as “the world” and “the sky without end” to the next generation. As if to foreshadow the changing world and chaos.
What do you want audiences to take away from this film?
That it is not just an event of the past, but contains issues that are relevant to today’s world, which is plunged into chronic crises such as the destruction of nature and human rights issues. However, that is only the result, and I would like to leave it to the audience to decide what part of the film made an impression on them. We were aiming for an entertaining film.
Thanks for taking the time to look at these questions!
Congratulations on the Lifetime Star Asia Award!
Okiku and the World played at the New York Asian Film Festival 2023 which is where Junji Sakamoto received the Lifetime Star Asia Award.
* Sustainable Development Goals
