Kiyoshi Kurosawa Composes “Tokyo Sonata”

The "Cure" director shifts gears to find out what ails the Japanese family.

Many of your films are about isolated loners. Did you feel any unease or anxiety about portraying a nuclear family in “Tokyo Sonata”?

Indeed, I portrayed a nuclear family. There are two parents and two sons living in a house. You couldn’t think of a more normal Japanese setting. At the same time, each of the four family members carries their own loneliness. Each of them has secrets that bring out their alienation. That’s what I was interested in tackling.

Do you feel that there are certain things you can accomplish within genre forms that you can’t do otherwise, and vice versa?

Definitely. With horror and science fiction, I’m concerned about following certain rules. In “Tokyo Sonata,” I took four family members, and therefore four separate stories, and intertwined them without any genre parameters to follow. It was a very exciting, free-form exercise for me.

Do you think “Tokyo Sonata” is a new direction? Will your future work be less genre-oriented?

I’m excited about being free to explore new themes and new types of filmmaking. I’m not interested in making something like “Tokyo Sonata” again. I want to be able to do something I haven’t done before and look for new challenges. The success I’ve had with “Tokyo Sonata” inspires me to continue this search. It’s definitely been a turning point for me.

Is it actually possible for a Japanese citizen to join the U.S. army, as the older son in “Tokyo Sonata” does?

That’s definitely fiction. There’s no system in Japan that would allow someone to join the U.S. army. However, many youngsters in Japan have expressed a hope of going to the battlefield. I think it’s unfortunate. But the fortunate part is that although they can join the self-defense forces, they won’t go to the battlefield. A lot of Japanese youth are living in illusions about war. Hopefully, I was able to tap into that in the film.

Would you ever agree to direct an American remake of one of your films?

I’m interested. Because the system of filmmaking is so different between the two countries, I’d have to start off by learning the American way of making films. And it seems like a lot of trouble to me at this point. If someone would offer me the possibility of remaking one of my films my own way, as a Japanese film, I would be interested but I don’t expect it. It would be difficult, and I doubt it’s likely to happen.

“Tokyo Sonata” opens in New York on March 13th and expands on March 27th.

Pages: 1 2