It has been revealed that the original film "Sunekosuri no Mori," in which actor Issei Takahashi teams up again with director Watanabe Kazutaka of the "Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe" series, will be released on April 10th.
This original work was inspired by the legend of the Okayama yokai "sunekosuri" (shin scraper), where director Watanabe was stationed while working for NHK. In a deep forest far from civilization, a young man with an injured leg is led by a woman's sweet singing voice to an old shrine. There he finds a mysterious man and his beautiful young wife living there, and the young man spends a dreamlike time where time seems to stand still...
When director Watanabe was in Okayama, he interviewed an elderly couple who lived in a rural village in the mountains with their cows in their main house. "I had a strange experience during that interview. One spring afternoon, during a break in filming, I was standing idly on the edge of a rice paddy. At that moment, a gust of wind blew, and the trees rustled. In an instant, I was overcome by a strange feeling. I wondered whether it was the present day, or a long time ago...A memory of standing in the same place hundreds of years ago came to me, and I stood there for a while. Even now, I still remember the feeling I had at that time," he said, commenting on a memory that led to the production of this film.
Takahashi, who plays the "mysterious man" who lives deep in the forest, revealed his thoughts, "I've worked with Director Kazutaka for a long time, and he's someone who believes in leaving room in acting. The script has an underlying sense of 'succession' - how yokai are spoken of, passed down, and remain as stories - and I felt a sense of accomplishment in being able to act in a world that doesn't overly layer on words." Furthermore, he said that originally the "sunekosuri" was his favorite yokai, saying, "When I first learned about this yokai, I was strongly attracted by its elusive nature and its presence that somehow seems to be close to people's lives."
Young actor Kodai Kurosaki plays a young man who gets lost in the forest after injuring his leg. Kurosaki said, "This film was shot in the wonderful locations of Okayama, and every scene is filled with refined beauty and a mysterious aura. For me, the yokai "Snekosuri" is a yokai that I'm very familiar with. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the audience reacts to Snekosuri."
Sayuri, a mysterious woman who lives in the forest with a mysterious man, is played by 16-year-old Aoto Nijiko, who is making her second film appearance. Aoto reflected on the filming, saying, "In the middle of winter in Okayama Prefecture, in the fantastical snowy scenery, I felt a strange sensation of not knowing where I was and whether it was reality, but I loved the slow passage of time. It was also special for me to be able to be in director Watanabe's world with Takahashi and Kurosaki."
