Conversations at the Asia Lounge: the creative titans discuss real and animated worlds

E’ The conversation between two giants of Asian cinema was exciting even if it was online. Here is the transcript of the most salient points:

Bong said, “BELLE is a tale of two worlds: the countryside where Suzu lives, with beautiful wallpapers that you have created. In (the enormous online space) The, becomes Belle, which only exists online. You did something similar with Summer Wars, but this 3D artwork was amazing. How you created it?”

“Effectively”, ha detto hosoda, “I studied what kind of designers exist in the online world, since I wanted to make sure that the person who created the world of U could live in that world. I managed to find a designer of 27 years living in London, without any film experience, and I feel really lucky to have been able to find such talent”.

“I found another designer, a student living in Texas, who had the power to create very lively characters, so I asked him to draw the character [of an American baseball player]. Belle's design is by Disney's Jin Kim. The film is unique because we crossed borders and I collaborated with many different people. Maybe this is the situation because of the pandemic. Animation companies are usually separated by national borders, but this collaboration revealed that we can create a new type of animation. So Mr. Bong, she might be able to do the same thing.

“Honestly”, Bong admitted, “this is not in my official bio, but the real starting point of my career was a short animation I made in 1992, a stop-motion film I shot in a university film club. I was shooting one frame at a time and we were only able to shoot 2 O 3 seconds of the film despite our best efforts. That's why I got into making live-action films”.

Hosoda smiled widely. “When I saw The Host and Okja, I could sense a spirit of animation in them. I thought they looked different from other live-action films. Now that I hear this, I understand why I felt that way.".

“I don't want to show this to anyone, only to members of my family”, Bong said. While Hosoda laughed, he continued: “If it came out, it would be a disaster. In The Host, there was a creature, and there was a pig in Okja, and I used CGI animation. Then, based on that experience, I'd like to make an anime like Toy Story or Wall-E”.

“I'm so excited”, ha detto hosoda, with genuine enthusiasm. “When I went to film festivals abroad with The Little Girl Who Leapt Through Time, everyone asked me why I still did hand-drawn animation rather than CGI. Of course that's great too, but I don't think we should stop drawing by hand. I think we can do hybrid animation. There are two techniques, like using a pencil or brush, and it's not that one is better than the other.

“I think the hybrid can improve things. You said you're making a CGI anime, it's for yours [previous experience] or there is something else you are looking for?”

“It's the first time I've tried to do animation, so I know it won't be easy”, Bong said. “I want to create a new tone, a new one [language] visual that you've ever seen before. It will be CGI but more human. I don't want the texture to be cold, I hope it's like something you want to touch. I think the CGI has really improved. I'm looking for sensitivity, the aroma of [hand drawn anime]. I'm not sure how I can do this. It's a big challenge. I'd like to come and see you and get some advice.”

Hosoda noted: “While we make the animation, we have this dilemma, because we have a traditional method of doing this that we tend to rely on. We depend on the literacy of the public. But there has to be a new way of expressing it. As animators, we should probably challenge ourselves a lot more than we are doing right now. I think you can break through and create animation from a completely different perspective, signor Bong”.

Bong said: “I don't expect too much, I'm just praying I can complete it. But you make films every three years or so. BELLE must be your ultimate creation. The theme of family, as well as the representation of two different worlds and the search for ways to overcome difficulties, You always explore these themes deeply in your films”.

“But I'm more interested in your film”, ha dichiarato enthusiast Hosoda. “There's nothing you can tell us about it?”

“I think I can talk about the beginning of the project”, Bong gave in. “It's a story about the deep sea, based on a French scientific novel. My wife found the novel in a bookstore. It was very visually beautiful and there were creatures of the deep that I had never seen, very mysterious, they were just like anime characters. They live in the deep sea without light 365 days a year and they are the protagonists of my story. They will come into contact with a human being”.

Speaking on behalf of all of us, Hosoda told him: “I think everyone can anticipate great things from yours [animation film]. I think it will be dynamic and border-crossing”.

“Like you”, said the Korean director, “I've also done a lot of films where family is a theme. At the end of BELLE, there is a small moment that communicates great emotions. Suzu encounters enormous difficulties before returning to her family, and when his father talks about cooking fish and sharing it, This really moved me. It gave me a big emotional shock. Yakusho Koji-san played the role of the father and, after seeing the movie, I went home and prepared some fish”.

Noting that it was Hosoda's third collaboration with the actor (after The Boy and the Beast and Mirai), he continued: “Spero di poter fare un film con Yakusho Koji-san. He also worked with Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Nishikawa Miwa e Kore-eda Hirokazu, so I'm jealous of all of you. I'm thinking about what kind of role I could write for him, and I'm thinking maybe he could be a slightly older apprentice at a manga studio run by a young artist. He wants to draw his own manga but struggles… and is mistreated by the young artist”.

Announcing that time was unfortunately running out for the session, Araki asked the two men if there were any films they found themselves turning to for inspiration or comfort. “When I feel like I can't go on anymore, I watch Hitchcock's Psycho and Kurosawa Kiyoshi's Cure”, Bong replied. And then, without a trace of irony, he added: “They make me feel calm and peaceful”.

Hosoda ha detto: “When I was filming BELLE, I watched The Silence of the Lambs so I could learn from the main character's sense of paranoia. But I was drawn in by how wonderful the film is and stopped caring if I learned anything. I also like watching Kurosawa Akira's Yojimbo. I really want to be able to make a movie like that, to get to that level. I always come back”.

Bong interruppe: “But The Boy and the Beast has a character, Kumatetsu, which reminds me of Mifune. I thought I must have been inspired by Yojimbo while I was watching it. He mocked Hosoda, “Maybe it's because Mr. Yakusho plays the character”.

Clearly, Song Kang Ho (Bong's frequent protagonist) may have some competition soon.