But why do I like Norwegian forests instead of love letters? ...

reproach ..

The film "Love Letter" is actually based on the book "Norwegian Forest". You can get some information by posting an interview with Shunji Iwai, the director of Love Letter.

Shunji Iwai accepted a private interview record.

"1987, Mr. Murakami's Norwegian Forest was published by Heart-to-Heart Society. I was 24 years old that year, about the same age as the protagonist Watanabe in the book, so there was a lot of confusion in my life. Like other young people, I began to be crazy about everything in the book. I thought it would be good if I had two girls, Naoko and Green (laughs). . . "

"1994, I finished filming Undo and began to think hard about my next work. But what script should I write? I'm 30 years old, and I'm going to drag memories of youth's tail to shoot something similar to a youth film while I'm in my twenties. A beautiful thing that makes rural boys and girls cry and can stay in people's memory.

Just then, a good friend of mine wanted to buy a book for his girlfriend as a birthday present, so I was dragged to the bookstore. I was so tired that I didn't know what to choose, so I asked the shopping guide: What books do young people like now? The lady smiled and said, if it is for girls, it is the Norwegian forest! It sells well! Hehe, you can guess how surprised we are! I didn't expect our past youth witness to last forever! So we both had a share and went home happily. . . "

"Later, I heard that the total sales volume of Novo has exceeded 5 million copies, which means that there is one copy in the hands of every 20 people on average. The so-called Haruki Murakami phenomenon has arisen in society, and there are many research papers, so I am a little tempted-can it be adapted into a movie?"

"It's a pity that Mr. Murakami was traveling in Inner Mongolia, China, and there was no way to discuss copyright issues. In addition, there are many proposals to put the novel on the screen, but the teacher always says: that's impossible, no one can do it, because it's outlined in my mind. So I drew a few circles on my head like a rest-that's it! "

"My practice is to refer to the settings in Nuo as much as possible, without showing any flaws.

The first thing to determine is the theme of the film: death and rebirth. Do you remember the famous saying in the book? Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of life. At that time, Murakami's own red and green cover also coincided with it. The first volume reminds people of the red color of blood representing the world of life, and the second volume reminds people of the green color of lush forests symbolizing the world of death. The two volumes of waist seals are completely opposite in color. But I have always been worried about the teacher's gray handling-why are such good people so desperate? So I made up my mind that the tone of the film must be optimistic. Then I thought of using pure white as the background color, symbolizing the tranquility and detachment of a soul. "

"The theme, it is the theme. It's simple. Since all the teachers in the advertisement on the vest said' This is Haruki Murakami/KOOC-0/00% realistic love novel', I said in the post of the movie:' This is Shunji Iwai/KOOC-0/00% romantic love movie'! (Laughter) In fact, love is just a catalyst, and it can also be seen as a trick for me to sell myself to the audience. "

"Next, it's people's turn. First of all, we identified three gangs in Nuozhong: Muyue, Naoko and Watanabe, namely Fujii Tree, Hiroko and Akiba. How's it going? It dawned on you after I reminded you? Muyue and Fujii were dead guys from the beginning, one committed suicide and the other was a mountain disaster. They are both poor sad people, one is Naoko and the other is Bozi. Of course, there are also boys who want to save it, a Watanabe and an autumn leaf; All three are good friends who meet frequently.

"As for the hero, I didn't choose the autumn leaves like Watanabe, but chose the girl wave. Because I have a strong desire to tell a story from another angle, and I want Bo Zi to have a bright ending instead of taking the road of Naoko's suicide.

Now we can compare the protagonist Watanabe in Noah with the protagonist Bozi in the film. First of all, they are both dragged down by a power that slides towards death, an inner existence that connects the inner. The former was troubled by Naoko who was traumatized, while the latter was haunted by the death of her fiance. Neither of them can distinguish the inner innocence and find a mature direction. Secondly, both of them are closely related to reality through the opposite sex, which is an external existence. The former meets lively and lovely green children, while the latter meets upright and generous autumn leaves. I remember Mr. Murakami once revealed his creative secret:' In order to keep balance, we need a centrifugal factor, that is, Qing Zi'. In the same way, I introduced the vitality of Qing Zi to Qiuye, but it is not just a deer that just jumped into the world in spring (laughs), people! In short, it is necessary to achieve the effect that centrifugal force and centripetal force, positive force and negative force are at loggerheads. "

"In Noah, the fourth important figure is Naoko's friend Reiko Kobayakawa, who is the key figure to help Watanabe stand up again. At the end of the novel, what she said to Watanabe inspired me:' If you feel similar pain about Naoko's death, leave this pain for the rest of your life and run through it. If you can learn something, you have to learn it, but Qing Zi (Autumn Leaves) is another matter, and you should seek happiness with her. Your pain has nothing to do with Glinko. If you break her heart again, it will inevitably lead to irreparable consequences. Therefore, although you may feel uncomfortable psychologically, you should be strong, mature and become an adult. "

Accordingly, I also want to set up a second candidate in the film to help Bozi. Fujii and I are inextricably linked. Thinking about it, I finally got the embryonic form of the female Fujii tree, and then I had a brainwave, how about splitting the male Fujii tree in half? It is really a wonderful idea to think that two identical girls love the same boy, and one of them has the same name and surname as that boy. In this way, the four protagonists in the film stood in front of me. The male Fujii tree is Muyue, while the female Fujii tree is Zi Ling. That's it.

"Of course, I also considered adding a few nostalgic songs to the film, such as Norwegian Forest, which is very symbolic, quiet, sad and intoxicating. But in the end, out of the dramatic consideration of the story itself, I decided to replace music with an entity, that is, the "memories of lost years" in the school library. Don't all the characters in Nuo love playing guitar? Then I will let the characters in my movie play with this book, which will produce some subtle interlaces-of course, this also means remembering me seven years ago. "

"Linking Bo Zi and Asu through letters is really inspired by Noel. I think the description of letters in Nuo is beautiful. There seems to be a saying-'I really wrote a lot of letters this spring. I write to Naoko once a week and to Reiko Kobayakawa several times. Writing in the university classroom, putting' Seagull' on his knees on the table at home, and lying on the dining table of an Italian hotel every once in a while. It's like writing a letter to keep my life falling apart together. "Isn't this the Potts? On the one hand, the title of Love Letter is a commercial consideration, on the other hand, it is indeed an important clue in the film. "

"Mr. Murakami once said that' modern novelists must go beyond realism to some extent' and use their own keywords such as' supernatural' and' fantasy' as an accelerant to enter the' unrealistic world'. The description of the mutual connection and integration of reality and fantasy in Nuo, and the self-movement of imagination, that is, the quiet insertion and deliberate operation of fantasy, dream and daydream, all create this mysterious atmosphere of realizing fiction. For example, the deep mountain sanatorium where Naoko can't live is a' complete mythical world'; For another example, on the first night of Shadows in the Mountains, I suddenly woke up and found Naoko kneeling on the pillow floor, staring at my eyes. Naoko's pupil is unusually clear,' you can almost see the opposite world through it'. After a while, Naoko took off his pajamas. Being naked in the moonlight turned into a perfect work of art, which even made me' not feel a trace of sexual excitement'. The next day,' I' was not sure whether what I saw last night was true or illusory.

As a director, I also feel a little unreal is icing on the cake. As far as Love Letter is concerned, the audience can see that the wind blows up the white curtains of the library, and the Fujii tree behind it suddenly disappears. After the curtain fell, he still stood there reading. Another example is that a woman named Fujii rode by, and Hiroko, who was standing next to the autumn leaf car, whispered' Miss Fujii', so Asu braked and turned around. First, there was a shot of Hiroko standing there, and then a strange crowd dispersed from the air and drowned Hiroko, so Asu looked around with a blank face. Many fans are having a heated discussion about whether Asu has ever seen Bozi. In fact, this is really my wonderful prank. Who cares if he has seen it? I just want to express my thoughts and loss. "

"The above is the origin of the film" Love Letter ". Maybe someone will say,' So Shunji Iwai is a liar' or (laughs). Anyway, thank you for your support over the years! I also want to thank Mr. Murakami and his "Norwegian Forest" for their beautiful words and youth.