The mystery film " Hikuidori wo, Kuu " (directed by Katsuhide Motoki, currently in theaters), stars actor Koshi Mizukami as the lead, Mizuki Yamashita as the heroine, and features the first solo film appearance by Ryota Miyadate of the popular group "Snow Man." The original author, Hiroshi Hara, commented on the story behind the creation of the film and the differences from the original novel.
◇Song → Diary: "Reminiscences of a war diary"
The film is based on Hara's novel of the same name (Kadokawa Horror Bunko), which won the 40th Yokomizo Seishi Mystery & Horror Award. Living in Shinshu, Kuki Yuji (Mizukami) and his wife Yuriko (Yamashita) receive a diary purportedly written by their ancestor Sadaichi, who died in the war. Written on the last page are the words "Cassowary, Kuitai." From that day on, mysterious events begin to occur around the happy couple, including damage to their gravestone and the disappearance of their grandfather. With the help of paranormal expert Hokuto Soichiro (Miyadate), they investigate and discover a shocking truth... This is the story.
The work is Hara's debut, and is one he feels a deep attachment to, as he wrote it while working as a salaryman and submitted it for an award. Hara says, "I originally started writing it as a science fiction fantasy love story, without the Hikuidori or war, in which the future changes as the protagonist completes an unfinished song left behind by a deceased lover."
"That didn't work out very well, so I changed 'song' to 'diary', but there are all kinds of diaries, so I thought about what to do. Then I remembered war diaries, and read the diary of someone who actually fled into the jungle on the southern front. Apparently, the person actually hunted and ate Hikuidori, so I thought if I expanded on that, it could make a good story, and I fleshed it out into a horror-leaning mystery, a sci-fi fantasy," he reveals.
Regarding the film adaptation, he frankly spoke of his feelings at the time, saying, "The original novel contains narrative devices here and there, and I felt it wasn't a work that was particularly suited to film. The second half of the novel becomes chaotic, so I was worried about whether it would be widely accepted by everyone when it was made into a film, and how it would be made." After seeing the finished film, he expressed his gratitude, saying, "I'm grateful that they handled the narrative parts and elements that are difficult to film well, and made the chaotic developments in the second half easy to understand."
◇An original ending: "Enjoy it in ways not found in the novel"
The film's story revolves around a love triangle between protagonist Yuji, his wife Yuriko, and Yuriko's acquaintance, paranormal expert Soichiro Hokuto. The film's characters and other aspects have been altered from the novel. Original author Hara enthusiastically commented, "In the original novel, Yuji is completely passive, and his personality isn't very clear. However, Mizukami's performance in the film is fantastic. While the dialogue and plot remain the same, his acting really conveys his determination to protect Yuriko at all costs." He also praised the cast's acting, saying, "Hokuto Soichiro is a more shady and arrogant character in the film, which I think will naturally lead the audience to root for Yuji. I myself was thinking, 'Yuji, do your best!' while watching the film (laughs)."
The "Hikuidori," including the title, has a big impact on the entire work, but he says, "In a broader sense, I wrote it as a symbol of 'life,' the obsession with 'wanting to live,' some kind of attachment, and as an entity that governs the laws of the universe in the world of the work. "In a smaller sense, the phrase 'Cassowary wo Kuu Biminari' appears in the story, and it is said that they apparently ate a Hikuidori. In both the film and the original novel, it is strongly hinted at as to whether what (the ancestor who died in the war) actually ate was a Hikuidori eating bird, or perhaps it was something else. While I strongly hint at it in my own mind, I haven't made a firm decision, and I leave it at the idea that in the unimaginable extreme conditions of war, they may have eaten the flesh of their comrades. Without deciding the truth myself, I wrote it while imagining the misery of war."
The film has an original ending. "I think one of the highlights of the film is that it can be enjoyed in ways that aren't in the novel. Depending on how you look at it, it can be interpreted in many different ways, and it's a mystery, a horror story, and if you look at it from a different perspective, it can also be seen as a love story," he said of the film's appeal.
