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FEATURE| NGT48 Rie Kitahara and director Kazuya Shiraishi "Sunny/32" is a new type of idol film.

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A new type of idol film called "Sunny/32" directed by Rie Kitahara of NGT48 and Kazuya Shiraishi.

Rie Kitahara, who will graduate from NGT48 this spring, plays the leading role in the movie "Sunny/32," which opens in theaters nationwide on Saturday, February 17. Director Kazuya Shiraishi, who has made many manly true-crime films such as "Wicked" and "The Worst in Japan," has created an "idol film" that can be read in a variety of ways. We interviewed Mr. Shiraishi, who did not treat Ms. Kitahara as an "idol" in the good sense of the word, and Ms. Kitahara, who literally put her body on the line during the grueling filming, about this film that puts Japan's dark history in the spotlight. The interviewer is Ishimasa Uno.

  • Interview&Text_Koremasa Uno
  • Photo_Junpei Ishikawa (Rie Kitahara&Kazuya Shiraishi)
  • Edit_Shinri Kobayashi

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Left: Rie Kitahara
Born on June 24, 1991. Born in Aichi Prefecture. Debuted as a member of "AKB48," an idol project produced by Yasushi Akimoto. After about seven years in the group, she became the captain of "NGT48" Team NⅢ, based in Niigata, Japan, in 2004. She has also appeared in many films as an actress, and her major film credits include "Graffreeter Sword Fang" (12), "Joker Game" (12), and "Ninkyo Yaro" (16).

Right: Director Kazuya Shiraishi
Born in 1974 in Hokkaido, Japan. In 1995, he participated in a film school organized by director Genji Nakamura. Since then, he has worked as a freelance director under the tutelage of Koji Wakamatsu. While working as an assistant director on Koji Wakamatsu's films, he has also worked on films by Isao Yukisada, Isshin Inudo, and others. Based on a non-fiction bestseller, "Weakness" (13) won the 2013 Kaneto Shindo Award, the 37th Japan Academy Prize for Best Picture and Best Screenplay, and other awards, catapulting him into the limelight. His other works include "The Worst of Japan" (16), "Bitches" (17), and "The Birds She Doesn't Know Their Names" (17).

story
"Sunny"...... is an 11-year-old girl who was called "the cutest murderer in the history of crime". It is winter in a town in Niigata, Japan. Akari Fujii (Rie Kitahara), a junior high school teacher whose work and personal life are not going well, is abducted by someone on the day of her 24th birthday. The kidnappers were a pair of men named Kashiwabara (Pierre Taki) and Oda (Lily Franky). They took her to an abandoned house at the foot of a snowy mountain and locked her up! Oda happily turned the video camera on, and Kashiwabara said, "I've missed you for a long time, Sunny ......," or so he called Akari. Sunny" was the nickname of the murderer of an elementary school student who had caused a sensation. The incident involved an 11-year-old elementary school girl who murdered her classmate. Suddenly, she slashed her neck with a craft knife. After the incident was discovered, the face of the assailant was identified from the victim's class photo used by the mass media, and her innocent, eye-catching appearance led to her being deified on the Internet as "the cutest murderer in the history of crime," and she quickly developed a fanatical following. In the photos that circulated, the girl's unique pose (right hand with three fingers, left hand with two fingers in a peace sign) also attracted attention, which was dubbed the "32 (Sunny) Pose" by her followers, and the assailant herself came to be called "Sunny. Coincidentally, on the night of the 14th anniversary of the "Sunny" incident, Akari was abducted and confined by two men. Both Kashiwabara and Oda are cult followers, and they dressed Akari in a dress of their choice and uploaded photos and videos of her to the "Sunny Tan-loving board www. Akari is losing her mind, but desperately tries to escape from the confinement room in the heavy snowfall area, which has become an isolated island on land. But! That was only the beginning of an astonishing story--.

Whether you are an idol or not, the site is unforgiving.

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The project for this film originally started when Yasushi Akimoto asked Rie Kitahara if she would be interested in doing a film, and I heard that Kitahara mentioned the name "Evil" as a favorite film of hers.

white stoneI heard through a Nikkatsu producer that Akimoto-san wanted to meet with me. I was nervous about going to meet him by myself (laughs).

(Laughter).

white stoneSo I asked Izumi Takahashi, who wrote the script, to come along. I actually had an idea for a horror movie.

It is a standard course for an idol's first starring film.

white stoneYes, I did. But I had never done horror before, so I wasn't too keen on it, but as we talked, I told him to do what he liked.

So, I really did whatever I wanted with "Sunny/32" this time. As for Mr. Kitahara, he just bypassed it and said he liked "Evil" (laughs).

northern fieldI'm not bypassing it (laughs), I really like it. I really like it! I have always had that feeling in my heart. That's what has stayed with me. I never imagined that I would be able to work with Pierre Taki and Lily Franky, who were also in that film, so as a movie fan, I couldn't be happier.

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It is a real luxury to be supported by such a large staff and cast for your first starring role.

northern fieldYes, it is. I thought it might be a dream. When filming began, though, a harsh reality awaited me (laughs). (laughs). Before filming began, I felt a little regret that I had said, "I'll do anything! I regretted saying that before filming began (laughs).

white stone(Laughter).

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I thought the style of Kazuya Shiraishi's previous works would be a little softer this time, but after the first 20 minutes or so, I was like, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no" (laugh). I was watching the film wondering how far it would go, but I was surprised that it went straight to the end.

northern fieldHow far would you go?" was exactly what I was thinking during the filming (laughs). (Laughs.) I thought I had prepared myself well before we started filming, but when I was told early in the shoot to "fly from the second floor window of the cabin to the snow below," I couldn't help but check the people around me. I thought there might be stunt people waiting somewhere (laughs).

white stoneIt would have been terrible if I had gotten hurt, so I gathered up all the soft snow around me.

northern fieldIt wasn't soft at all! You said, "Well, please fly there." I thought it was the climax of the scene, but you said it as if it was a matter of course. I felt that I may have been a bit naive at first, and that's when I started to tighten up.

Idol films as "meta".

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The script for this film was written by the so-calledNEVADA case（You refer to several major incidents in Japan's modern history, including the murder of a classmate of a girl in the 6th grade of elementary school in Sasebo (2004). To what extent were you aware of these incidents before shooting the film?

northern fieldNo, I knew very little about the NEVADA case.

I see. As in the setting in the work, the incident actually took place when Mr. Kitahara was only 12 or 13 years old, right?

northern fieldYes, I did. After the middle of the shoot, my co-stars were talking about it, and that's when I first looked into it. But I think it was better that I did it knowing very little about the case rather than acting with the case in mind.

People started dying rather early on, and when I realized, "Oh, this is a modern-day Asama Sanso Incident," I realized how serious this film was for Director Shiraishi, who had been working with the Wakamatsu (Koji) team for a long time.

white stoneYes, it is.

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On the other hand, there is a drone boy in this work, social media plays an important role, and the series of frightening depictions of the main character played by Mr. Kitahara interacting with "fans" can be seen as an extension of idol handshake sessions. It is also a work that deals with very contemporary themes, isn't it?

white stoneYes, in fact, the horror of idol handshakes was also a starting point for the idea.

northern fieldAt first, Mr. Shiraishi told me that he was going to make an idol film. At the time, I couldn't figure out what he meant. I had no idea that it would turn out like this. When I read the script, I thought, "What part of this is an idol film? I couldn't read it from the script. I couldn't read it from the words. But when I actually saw the finished film, I was surprised to see that it was indeed an idol film as well.

It is not just an "idol film," but also a critique of the concept of idols and an "idol film" as a meta. I was quite numb to its clever structure.

northern fieldI think so. I think this is what director Shiraishi considers an "idol movie.

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In the beginning of the film, there is a scene in which the main character, a junior high school teacher in a small town in Niigata, goes about his daily life. When the film is over, that sequence of everyday scenes really works.

northern fieldIt was quite strange for me to be in a teaching position. I never thought I would be playing the role of a middle school teacher now. The students in that scene were actual students who attended the junior high school that helped us film the scene, and they participated as extras. So it was very realistic and scary.

white stoneI told the students to listen to the class like it was boring (laughs). But, Mr. Kitahara, you really got into the role of the junior high school teacher.

northern fieldReally?　I thought I could never become a teacher. I didn't realize how mentally demanding it would be to speak alone with a classroom full of students looking at me coldly. Even though it was a play, it was hard for me.

white stoneEven though I am used to speaking in front of people, usually the audience at a live concert and others are all there looking forward to it. It is hard to speak in front of people who are not interested in you.

northern fieldYes, I did. I regretted that I should have been nicer to my teachers when I was a student (laughs).

However, the series of scenes at the beginning of the film confirmed my trust in the actress Rie Kitahara, and from there I was completely immersed in the world of the work.

northern fieldThank you (laughs).

Her long-time desire to be an actress and her future path.

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When you were a student, what did you want to be in the future?

northern fieldWhen I was little, I wanted to be a cake baker, but one day I decided I wanted to be an actress, and while I was going through various auditions, I found an audition for AKB48.

So you clearly wanted to be an actress from the beginning?

northern fieldYes, I am very happy to have been a part of AKB48. Therefore, I am truly happy to have had the opportunity to meet and star in a production like this one, and to have been a part of AKB48 for 10 years.

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Did Director Shiraishi give you any kind of advice before or during filming?

northern fieldWhen we first met, I asked, "Is there anything I need to do to prepare?" I asked, "No, you don't have to do anything.

white stone(Laughter).

northern fieldAt that time, I decided to leave everything to the director.

white stoneBut I don't think it is a character piece for which Kitahara-san actually does any preparation.

Even in the story, you are abducted out of the blue.

white stoneYes. Also, the scripts for my own works are rarely written by guesswork, but this script was written with Ms. Kitahara in mind. Idol activities are hard, so I thought that if she had put her all into it, she would be able to pull it off.

For the director, what do you think is the appeal of actress Rie Kitahara?

white stoneThat is a sincere attitude toward your work. I am sure that is largely due to your determination to "become an actress.

northern fieldIt was such a wonderful experience that I want to follow him for the rest of my life. Mr. Shiraishi is the person who moves first and faster than anyone else on the set. I felt that this is the kind of person that makes everyone follow him even in the toughest shooting.

white stoneSince I was an assistant director, I was said to be the most mobile assistant director (laughs).

But that kind of athletic ability is very important for a film, isn't it? When I watch Shiraishi's films, I always think that he has excellent reflexes.

white stoneAh. But I think that kind of thing is certainly deeply connected to the film's pacing and so on.

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Many of director Shiraishi's works have a masculine feel to them. If you were to cast Kitahara again in the future, what kind of role would you consider for him?

white stoneHmmm ...... like the role of a bitch in a good way.

Bitchy in a good way" (laughs).

white stoneI think you would be better suited to a slightly shadowy role.

northern fieldGlad to hear it.

What kind of roles would you like to play in the future, Kitahara-san?

northern fieldWhen I was allowed to do acting work alongside my idol work, I think there was a sense of strength in me somewhere. But now that I will graduate from NGT48 this spring, I would like to relax my shoulders a bit and be able to act as a normal person.

What do you mean by normal people?

northern fieldFor example, ...... I admire such ordinary roles, such as a female friend who comes to a blind date, or a love rival of the main character.

white stoneI'm sorry that I didn't play a normal role at all this time (laughs).

northern field(Laughter).

Sunny/32
ovie-32.com
February 17, 2018 (Sat) in theaters nationwide

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