Sono Sion, a genius in Japanese cinema who has provoked the world and questioned conventional wisdom, has adapted his original story "Whispering Star," written 25 years ago, into a film that will be released on May 14th. The story centers on an android who travels through space aboard a retro Showa-era spaceship to deliver mementos to humans who have been declared extinct.

This black-and-white sci-fi film, released as an independent film, is characterized by extremely quiet images and a unique poetic quality, which betrays Sono Sion's more recent dynamic image. What thoughts did Sono Sion, a poet at heart, put into "Whispering Star"?


■At First, I Had No Intention to Screen It

--How did you end up releasing "Whispering Star" as an independent film?

When I wrote the screenplay 25 years ago, I wanted to turn it into a film immediately, but I didn't have the funds. I also wrote screenplays about 25 years ago, but even with "Why Don't You Play in Hell?" (2013) and "Love & Peace" (2015), I struggled to get my plans accepted by film companies. "Whispering Star" is an especially unspectacular film, so I figured there was no way it would be accepted, and I was just drifting aimlessly.

So in 2013, I decided to set up my own independent production company and make an independent film. When I was deciding which film to choose, I had several options, but at first, I felt that "Whispering Star" was the only one that really mattered.

--Was setting up an independent production company because of the constraints of the commercial film industry?

Setting up an independent production company was one of the things I wanted to do in my life. Of course, it's the best system for making a film, and it would be amazing if I could make more expensive films with my own company.

--Why did you cast actress Kagurazaka Megumi, who is also your real-life partner, in the lead role?

I had no intention of selling Whispering Star as a film, so I didn't see any point in casting a famous actor. At first, I didn't even intend to screen it, so I felt like I'd just make it and be done with it, and I didn't even have an end credits. There was no need to create a selling point, and everyone involved and on staff knew each other. In other words, it was full of a family feeling. I also had a personal attachment to the people of Fukushima who I interviewed for Land of Hope (2012). They were clearly ordinary people, and their lines were quite matter-of-fact (laughs). But that was fine by me.

■Quiet films were actually the starting point

--For Whispering Star, the catchphrase is, "The longing for distance and time is like the beating of the human heart," but has this feeling always been something you've held close to you?

I made almost no changes to the screenplay for "Whispering Star," which I wrote 25 years ago. As things become more and more convenient, the excitement fades. We long for places precisely because they're far away, but when they become incredibly close, our imaginations slow down and we no longer care. If France were the next town over, it would suddenly lose all its fashionability. French people often stay at my studio for a month or so, and they say, "Shimokitazawa is cooler than Paris!" (laughs). I guess that's just how it is for both of us.

--I heard it took a long time, a year, to edit and dub the film.

I wanted to make sure I had no regrets. I've been making films at an incredible speed recently, and while there are good aspects to that, there have also been many times when I've had to turn a blind eye. I wanted to avoid that kind of thing with an independent film.

--You've made many "dynamic" films up until now, but why did you choose to depict an extremely "still" world in "Whispering Star"?

I originally entered the film world because I wanted to make "still" films. 25 years ago, when I made my debut, I wanted to make quiet films, but it didn't work out. Since then, I've unintentionally focused on dynamic films, but in fact, quiet films were my starting point.

■I've never forgotten poetry in my heart

---You've been writing poetry since you were in high school, and Whispering Star is a particularly poetic work, isn't it?

I don't think I would be who I am today if I hadn't written poetry; poetry is an essential part of it, and my films so far are peppered with it. Even with a single line of dialogue, I sometimes think that everything I learned from poetry back then has been useful.

I read a lot of poetry in my teens. I learned a lot from reading not only contemporary Japanese poetry, but also works by poets from all over the world. That's what I've always had at the core of my being, and no matter what I do, poetry is always in my heart, and I've never forgotten it.

--Has poetry had a significant influence on the worldview of your films?

25 years ago, I thought a good film was one that was full of originality, and that a film without the stamp of originality was no good. Rather than a well-made film that was completely unknown, I preferred to make a bad film that you could tell at a glance was the author of, and that was my goal.

At the time, I thought that what I could do was incorporate poetry into my films. I thought that this would best bring out my own originality. I wanted to create "film poetry," or poetry in film. That was the idea behind writing the screenplay for "Whispering Star."

--When you look back on "Whispering Star" across 25 years of time, are there any parts that have changed, or any parts that remain the same, such as your thoughts on production or your outlook on life?

Some things haven't changed at all, but some parts have changed beyond imagination for the person who wrote the screenplay 25 years ago. At the time, it would have been unthinkable for him to make a film featuring naked women, let alone one with blood spurting everywhere or a guerrilla-style film. For him at the time, this must have been a surprising development. He had been trying to make his debut as a folk singer, but now he's wearing Kiss-style makeup and singing rock music (laughs). I think it was a big change of that magnitude.

Continued in Part 2