Tokyo's bubble economy: From literary giants to great entertainers

The newly arrived 18-year-old screenwriter volunteered to direct!

The news caused a stir on set, and even the uncle selling boxed lunches downstairs heard bits and pieces from Matsuzaka Entertainment and members of the "Battle Royale" crew.

"Really? That little brat wants to be a director? And Keiko actually agreed?"

Around 4 p.m., Takeshi Kitano squatted by the flower bed, eating his boxed lunch.

Beside him, Kinji Fukasaku casually picked up a chicken leg from his bowl and put it in his mouth, laughing, "Orson Welles was only 24 when he made Citizen Kane. Art is never an age-dependent profession."

"But that's 24 years old! That kid is only 18! Hey! Ojiji! Chicken leg still... Baka, how can there be such a shameless old man like you in the world?"

Takeshi Kitano reached out with his chopsticks to snatch back the chicken leg, but Kinji Fukasaku took a bite first.

He glared at him speechlessly, then turned and asked the uncle selling boxed lunches for a chicken leg. He grabbed the leg with his hand, tore into it, and said, "But speaking of which, it's not normal for that kid to be able to single-handedly take down the West City Group. It's just... why is that girl with him?"

"That girl?"

"It's that really pretty little girl next to him. A couple of years ago, her mom actually drugged her and put her in my bed. You wouldn't believe it, when I came back to the hotel after drinking, I turned on the light and there was a mother and daughter lying on the bed. It scared me so much I was completely sober."

Takeshi Kitano lowered his head and ate large mouthfuls of rice.

Kinji Fukasaku raised an eyebrow with a smile. "Mother-daughter bowl? Isn't that just what you wanted?"

"Baka yarou (tongue snap)! Of course I like mother-daughter donburi, what man doesn't? But that girl was only fourteen at the time, and she was drugged. If I had actually done it, I might have been arrested by the police the next day with a 'Oh!'!"

"Police? You clearly just think that kid has a hard life."

"Baka yarou (tongue snap)! I just don't want to go to jail!"

"Hehe, whatever you say." Fukasaku Kinji finished his chicken leg in one bite, clapped his hands, glanced up at the fourth floor, and laughed, "I'm going to check out that kid's filming location, do you want to come along?"

"What's so interesting about this kid's performance? Are we just going to make fun of him after dinner?"

"Let's go, just keep this old man company. Anyway, there's still some time before tonight's filming."

"You don't eat chicken legs as fast as an old man!" Takeshi Kitano rolled his eyes, but still finished the last bite of his lunchbox, jumped off the flower bed, and wiped the chicken leg grease off Kinji Fukasaku's back.

"You bastard..."

Shinji Fukasaku was utterly speechless.

The two chatted and laughed, and soon arrived at the fourth floor.

It seemed that filming had already begun inside. As soon as the two arrived in the corridor, the staff recognized them and respectfully bowed to make way for them.

The two looked inside and saw that all the photography equipment had been set up and the photography crew was making final adjustments.

Kento Kaku, the blond-haired actor, and a temporary extra who came to play the role of Kanai were nervously touching up their makeup, while Shuichi Kanbara was seriously talking with the lighting technician on the other side, confirming the lighting and exposure.

"Don't move the main light of the setting sun by the window; this natural light is the emotional core of this scene. Dim all the ceiling lights by two levels, don't use flat lighting, just add a little weak cool light to the front of the face, but note that I want a sense of contrast, not real oppression."

Add a little more rim lighting on the right side to differentiate the character from the background, preventing them from blending into the sunset. Don't artificially brighten the shadows; the film has enough latitude. Intentionally leave vignetting and shadows so that the sense of distance between the two characters in their later scenes can be created through light and shadow.

Also, the sun sets very quickly, so remember to set the lights within three minutes and try not to adjust the light positions too much afterwards.

Fukasaku Kinji listened for a few moments, then looked around at the lighting, especially the beam of sunset streaming in through the window. He smiled and nodded, "This kid has some skill with lighting, and his camera angles are also quite sophisticated."

Takeshi Kitano didn't speak, but his eyes changed slightly.

The use of light is one of the fundamentals of directing, and there are related professional courses in schools. However, actual shooting scenarios are diverse, and applying knowledge in practice still requires a great deal of skill from the director.

What Shuichi Kanbara just said to the lighting technician was very skillful and comprehensive. From the logic of primary and secondary lighting to the characteristics of film and the logic of light and shadow narrative, even he could not find any fault with the arrangement.

Next, we'll look at the more crucial aspect: storytelling ability.

The two men were acting suspiciously, with a hint of anticipation in their eyes.

Not only the two of them, but also Keiko Matsuzaka and Rie Miyazawa, who were standing nearby, were quietly watching Shuichi Kanbara, who was walking back and forth on the set, constantly giving instructions.

"This kid is definitely got some skills."

Keiko Matsuzaka drank her water, a look of certainty in her eyes.

She wasn't particularly familiar with the filming process, but as a workaholic career woman, she knew exactly what it was like to be fully engaged in work – just like Shuichi Kanbara was now, with no more polite smiles or unnecessary chatter, just pure and efficient.

She has never felt any ill will towards men like this.

Beside her, Rie Miyazawa, who was eating a boxed lunch while leaning against the railing because she wasn't filming yet, was also doing the same. Her clear, large eyes, with a beauty mark under her eye, were quietly watching Shuichi Kanbara.

However, the emotions in her eyes were more complex, yet also simpler.

Individual thoughts differed, but soon, with all preparations complete, Shuichi Kanbara went to the camera, clenched his fist, and shouted loudly, "All departments, prepare! Action!"

As the clapperboard snapped shut, Kento Kaku and the actor playing Kanai immediately began to move around, getting into character.

This scene depicts the moment when Mitsuhashi sets a trap to trap Kanai in the abandoned school.

The story is actually quite simple: Kanai offended Mitsuhashi, who locked him in a room in an abandoned school and, in order to play a trick on him, pretended that he was also locked up.

But it is precisely these seemingly simple scenes that truly test a director's skills.

The most important thing is narrative control.

In this scene, the director intentionally kept the audience from knowing at the beginning that Mitsuhashi was not actually imprisoned.

So when Mitsuhashi pretends he can't go home, and even tricks Kanai into eating leather shoes and weeds, the moment he calmly opens the door creates a huge laugh, and this information gap is used to create more laughs.

To put it simply, a work of art is usually presented from three perspectives.

There are three perspectives: the character's perspective, the audience's perspective, and the author's perspective. The character's perspective is the narrowest, the audience's perspective is somewhat godlike, and only the author has an omniscient perspective.

The author's ability to conceal information and release it at the right time to achieve the desired effect is a demonstration of narrative skill.

To give a simple and classic example, some horror novels begin with the protagonist's family living happily together, and the protagonist is enjoying himself, but at the end of the chapter, certain details suddenly reveal that the protagonist's family members are all ghosts.

This is the release of information.

The author knew from the beginning that the protagonist's family were ghosts, but didn't say so at the start.

The reader only learns at the end that the protagonist's family are ghosts, but the protagonist is unaware that his family are ghosts.

The information gap in this process creates dramatic tension, thereby arousing the reader's anticipation and sense of novelty. In the film industry, one of the strongest examples of using narrative techniques to achieve dramatic tension is Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction".

Of course, there are many narrative techniques. The narrative technique of "Pulp Fiction" is not that the director forcibly obscures information, but a more advanced non-linear collage narrative, or a circular narrative in a broader sense. But in essence, it is still playing with information gaps, and that is the effect brought about by the narrative technique.

This scene in "From Today, It's My Turn!!" is far less sophisticated in its narrative techniques than "Pulp Fiction," but it's still quite good, and the effect is extremely good.

Sure enough, when the plot moved to the point where Mitsuhashi was sitting in a cubicle eating potato chips and drinking cola, while on the other side, Kanai was in the sunset, using the 575th haiku as his famous line of death, "At dusk, the sun sets, thunder roars, and my stomach is hungry," as Kanbaru Shuichi shouted "Cut!"

Outside the film set, many crew members couldn't hold back their laughter. Even Keiko Matsuzaka, who was drinking water, and Rie Miyazawa, who was eating a boxed lunch, couldn't help but spit it out. The staff quickly handed them tissues.

After a few minutes of rest, the entire set became lively. Almost every crew member who passed by Shuichi Kanbara had a sincere and admiring smile on their face and said flattering words.

Shuichi Kanbara wasn't arrogant; he just smiled and directed a few younger girls to hand water to Kento Kaku and the others. Then, he quickly went over to the lighting technician to discuss some minor flaws in their coordination.

"This child has a limitless future."

Kinji Fukasaku stood on a bench near the back door of the classroom, a cigarette between his fingers, and peered inside on tiptoe, his eyes filled with emotion and surprise.

While this scene didn't fully showcase Shuichi Kanbara's camerawork skills, the narrative pacing and techniques... in his opinion, already surpassed those of many seasoned and excellent directors.

He sighed with admiration, and just then, Shuichi Kambara, who was drinking water, happened to look over.

His eyes lit up instantly. He had been so engrossed in filming and there were so many people on set that he hadn't noticed the old man standing on a small stool outside the crowd.

Now that he saw it, he naturally didn't put on airs and squeezed through the crowd to come over.

"Mr. Fukasaku! What brings you here!" Shuichi Kanbara bowed deeply, showing respect to a senior figure in the industry.

Kinji Fukasaku laughed and said, "You recognize me now? You didn't look at me like this back in the school gymnasium."

"Sorry, I was just too engrossed in writing the script at the time."

"Haha, this is great news. It's hard to achieve that level of concentration when I get to my age."

Kinji Fukasaku smiled and shook his head, then pulled over Takeshi Kitano, who was leaning against the railing smoking in silence. "By the way, this is Takeshi Kitano. He was so engrossed in watching your filming that he didn't even notice his cigarette butt fall out, and he even burned a hole in the hem of his shirt."

"Baka yarou! I was just thinking about something!"

Takeshi Kitano retorted unhappily, but seeing Shuichi Kanbara bow to him, he returned the bow earnestly, saying, "You're quite good, kid! I'm Takeshi Kitano!"

This scene left many crew members nearby speechless.

—Japanese society places great importance on seniority. Although Takeshi Kitano is a free spirit and doesn't care much about such things, as a senior figure in the industry and a top-tier leader, he actually returned the greeting to an eighteen-year-old newcomer with great seriousness.

That's outrageous!

Shuichi Kanbara was also somewhat surprised, but... Takeshi Kitano's personality really suited his style.

So, the three chatted politely for a while, exchanged contact information, and as Kinji Fukasaku and Takeshi Kitano were about to start filming on the set below, and were preparing to say goodbye and leave, Shuichi Kanbara called out to Takeshi Kitano.

"Kitano-san, are you available in two months?"

"kindness?"

Takeshi Kitano turned around and raised an eyebrow, while Shuichi Kanbara smiled and said, "If there were a chance, I would like you to be the male lead in my movie."

"What?!"

Takeshi Kitano was taken aback. Although he did think Shuichi Kanbara was very impressive and an interesting kid, he was quite friendly.

But he is, after all, Takeshi Kitano, a top-tier figure in the Japanese film and television industry today, and the two are also from different generations in age.

He never expected that Shuichi Kanbara would directly invite him to be the male lead.

but...

Funny, funny little devil.

Kanbara Shuichi's "arrogance" didn't disgust him; instead, it made him find the kid even more interesting. He looked Kanbara Shuichi up and down and gave him a crooked smile.

"We'll see when the time comes."

After saying that, he and Fukasaku Kinji strode away.

As Shuichi Kanbara watched the two figures walk away, a smile crept onto his lips.

He's pretty much secured the director position for "From Today, It's My Turn!!", which means he'll have start-up funding to make his own film in two months.

And the first project he considered...

Thinking of this, he looked at the other side of the set, where Rie Miyazawa was helping to adjust the set.

"Léon: The Professional, starring Takeshi Kitano and Rie Miyazawa..."

"I wonder if this debut work is explosive enough."