The film "Black Showman" (directed by Tanaka Ryo), starring Fukuyama Masaharu, is currently in theaters. Based on a novel by Higashino Keigo, Fukuyama plays Kamio Takeshi, a former top-class magician active in Las Vegas. Takeshi teams up with his niece, Mayo (Arimura Kasumi), to uncover the truth behind the murder of his brother, Kamio Eiichi (Nakamura Toru), a former junior high school teacher. Fukuyama spoke passionately about Kamio Takeshi, the new "dark hero" created by Higashino.
◇ Characters were created by gathering images of "dark heroes"
"When I looked into the term 'dark hero,' I found out that it's a Japanese-made English word. Apparently it's called an 'anti-hero' overseas, so I wondered why the term 'dark hero' suited this character so well, even though it's a word unique to Japan, and I tried to interpret it in my own way."
Fukuyama began by saying that the term "dark hero" was one of the keywords in this work, so "I wanted to redefine and organize it in my own mind."
When Fukuyama thinks about dark heroes he saw as a child, he thinks of "Nezumi Kozo Jirokichi," "Zatoichi," "Hissatsu Shiokinin," and many others.
"They have their own rules, and sometimes they will use any means necessary to help the weak and defeat the strong. They are chivalrous characters. On the other hand, like Golgo 13, there is no clear distinction between good and evil, and Duke Togo is a strict results-oriented person who acts according to his own rules when he receives an offer, achieving close to 100% results and then gets paid. I tried to assemble all of these elements and build the character of Kamio Takeshi."
So what is the "righteousness" that drives Kamio Takeshi?
"In this story, the murdered person is Takeshi's own brother. However, if we were to create Takeshi based solely on that motive, he would become a fairly easy-to-understand person. Since it is a criminal case, it should be left to the police. However, Takeshi skips all of that and heads towards the truth of the case. The motive for this isn't written in the script, but I think it's Takeshi's "intense anger and deep hatred" towards the culprit. If he left it to the police, it would be too slow and they might not even catch the real culprit. Takeshi acts logically, without being pulled along by his emotions, to uncover the truth, based on his instinctive feelings of anger and hatred towards the culprit. Later, he confesses his gratitude to his brother. He feels that it is thanks to his brother that he is able to live by his own rules. I think it's his desire to find the truth as quickly as possible and to bring about justice with his own hands as quickly and sharply as possible."
◇The original work has already been made into a series. What if you were to play Kamio Takeshi again?
The original "Black Showman" has already been made into a series, and this time the first book, "Black Showman and the Murder in the Nameless Town," is being made into a film. The second book in the series, a collection of short stories, "Black Showman and the Awakening Women," was published in 2024. If that's the case, it's entirely possible that it will be made into a film or TV series, like the "Galileo" series, also written by Higashino.
When asked if he would like to play Kamio Takeshi again, Fukuyama replied, "Of course. But it all depends on how the viewers feel."
What does Fukuyama think is Takeshi's appeal? "I haven't fully grasped it yet," he says, as he is still developing the character, but adds, "In my mind, at the moment, Takeshi may not be interested in the general public's judgments of right and wrong. Takeshi may have his own sense of good and evil, but he lives by his own rules, is strict with money, and yet that doesn't mean he wants to live lavishly. He should value himself in the hundreds of millions, because he is doing things that other people can't. That's what I think it is."
Hypothetically, if he were to play Takeshi in the future, he imagined that "the base role would consistently be that of a person who is motivated by money."
Takeshi is a magician, and Fukuyama says that he always carried a coin with him during filming and practiced diligently.
"You can't do coin rolls unless you keep doing them. This time, I didn't get as far as playing cards, so if there's a next time, I'll need to practice playing cards."
◇Social issues lie behind mysteries
Finally, we asked about the highlights of this work.
"At the heart of this work's mystery-solving lies a social issue. Complex human relationships arise due to changes in the local economy. When the economic structure changes, the dark side of human relationships is brought to light. I think that the setting of the story, 'Nameless Town,' is in such a situation," he explains.
He continues, "This work depicts this reality realistically while elevating it into entertainment. It could be about 'your own town', or it could be about you. I hope that people will see it as something that concerns them personally."
He continued, "Above all, I think it's innovative how the story unfolds while using magic tricks. The hand magic tricks scattered throughout, in a Fuschian style, act as openings and closings, like turning the pages of a book to reveal Chapters 1, 2, and 3, so I hope you enjoy them. Even in the climax mystery-solving scene, the decisive blow that corners the real culprit is an analog magic trick. I think that this scene encapsulates the charm of this movie. I hope you enjoy it."
The film is based on Higashino's novel "The Black Showman and the Murder in the Nameless Town" (Kobunsha Bunko). It is directed by Tanaka Ryo, who has worked on the "Confidence Man JP" and "Ichikei no Karasu" series. Former junior high school teacher Kamio Eiichi (Nakamura) is murdered by unknown assailants, and his daughter Kamio Mayo (Arimura), who was due to be married in two months, receives the sudden news of his death and returns to her hometown. Wanting to know the truth about Eiichi's murder, Mayo is visited by his uncle Kamio Takeshi (Fukuyama). Armed with his exceptional magic tricks, his wicked habits, and his mentalist-level skill at observing people and leading questions, Mayo takes on the mystery of the murder... this is the story.
