Actress Chieko Baisho attended the preview screening of her starring film "TOKYO Taxi" held in Tokyo on October 20th. She said that it was her first time to appear on stage at an event right after the audience had finished watching the film, and revealed, "I'm nervous. I feel like I want to run away."
Baisho, who is appearing in her 70th film directed by Yamada Yoji, began by saying, "When I appear in Yamada's films, it becomes clear that I haven't studied at all." She continued, "It's 'school' for me. It's not a theatrical school, but rather a place where I think about how to live as a human being while acting."
Co-star Takuya Kimura also sympathized, saying, "I feel exactly the same as Baisho-san," and added, "It's a place that teaches me the richness of being on a film set."
Co-stars Takaya Sakoda, Yuka, Runa Nakajima, and director Yoji Yamada also attended the premiere screening.
"TOKYO Taxi," director Yamada Yoji's 91st film, is a human drama starring Baisho and co-starring Kimura. One day, Kimura plays taxi driver Usami Koji, who receives a request to transport 85-year-old Madam Takano Sumire (Baisho) from Shibamata, Tokyo, to a nursing home in Hayama, Kanagawa. Sumire asks Koji to make a detour. As they travel from place to place, Sumire begins to recount her own tragic past. The story depicts how a single day's journey profoundly changes the hearts and lives of the two.
