The hero has to be an archetype; they have to be like a dream; they have to be perfect. The evil is closer to us.
I believe that when people try to live their life at the fullest, there's a certain laughter that comes out of it. The more they try to live their life seriously, the funnier it is.
Manga, as a medium, is very different from cinema. Its creators are free to express themselves with harsh, cruel stories, and they enjoy vast distribution throughout Japan.
I would recommend 'Lesson Of The Evil' to be given as a DVD gift on a child's 15th birthday. In Japan, children under 15 are not allowed to watch it. Plus, 'Lesson Of The Evil' is one film where the older you get, the more you will be able to understand and enjoy the film.
I do not proactively approach Hollywood, but also I do not always turn down offers. But since I'm living as a movie director, I have a desire to shoot something like 'This is a Hollywood movie!' at least once in my lifetime.
Audiences are an unknown mystery to me, so I can't really predict anything. For me, the best audience is myself, my crew, and the actors.
Pleasure can also be a mirror of the anxiety we feel in everyday life, it can have a message inside.
I'm even a little afraid of the dark. If I'm alone in the dark I'll sometimes feel that there's a presence behind me and I'll even be afraid to turn around, but then if I do get the courage to turn around, I'll just be scared that whatever was there has just jumped over to the other side of me.
I'm actually quite a scaredy cat, myself.
First Love' is one of my most hopeful movies. It's about love and relationships, so in that way it's different from my other films. That's why it's special for me.
Gozu' was influenced by American cinema.
In general, I'm probably seen as an unusual director.
I am like any other human being; I am full of different sides.
Live life before making movies, because you cannot make films about life, without having lived one.
My generation was a special generation. I was born in 1960 and in my childhood we were all big manga consumers that was the culture. We were brought up in manga. Manga evolved around what was being made to cater to kids. All children at that time read ridiculously thick manga books every week.
I guess, in a sense, 'Audition' was a film that gave me an opportunity that I hadn't had up until that point. So that's definitely one that is important to me. Then there's 'Visitor Q' that kind of taught me that there are some kinds of films that can only be made as low-budget films that really wouldn't work as anything else.
I don't slot actors into the image of a character that's already built. I build characters by listening to the voice and the story inside the heart of each actor. Art and life are linked, and expressed through my actors.
Sometimes it's good to know there are limits.
Bigger-budgeted films have more restrictions and less freedom to create. Because of this, I try to find freedom in the people I work with. I often work in ways I don't want to. It's more about controlling the situation. Lower-budget films are freer.
Japanese of my generation try to get through life without stepping on anyone's toes; in some ways that's unnatural and stressful. The yakuza are different: They live short lives but live and die on their own terms - it's exciting to portray that.
