BUSAN -- Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who gained international attention with the psychological horror thriller “Cure” (1997), said he still hasn’t discovered his style or overall theme, expressing his pure interest and motivation in filmmaking.
The 69-year-old veteran filmmaker was in Busan on Thursday as the recipient of the 29th Busan International Film Festival’s Asian filmmaker of the year award.
“Making films for over 40 years, people in Japan call me a veteran director. But one after another, I still contemplate what kind of movie I should make, meaning that I don’t think I have discovered my own theme or style yet,” Kurosawa told reporters at a press conference in Busan on Thursday.
“I want to make a movie that has no room for improvement when you look at it from 360 degrees. But after shooting, there has always been something that is missing. Looking to improve, I feel like I’m spinning round and round at the same place,” he said with humility.
Kurosawa debuted in 1983 with “Kandagawa Pervert Wars.” He won the Un Certain Regard jury prize at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for “Tokyo Sonata” as well as the Un Certain Regard award for best director at Cannes in 2015 for “Journey to the Shore.” In 2020, he was awarded the Silver Lion for best direction at the 77th Venice International Film Festival for “Wife of a Spy.”
This year, his new movies “Serpent’s Path” and “Cloud” are both screening in the gala presentation section at the Busan film fest.
“I know it’s rare to see a director who shoots two movies in a year. Maybe in that context, I’m a bit of a unique director,” he told reporters.
“Serpent’s Path,” an adaptation and remake of his own 1998 film of the same title, was filmed in French in France.
The movie follows Albert (Damien Bonnard), a freelance journalist living in a Paris suburb who is on a path to avenge the brutal murder of his young daughter. By his side is a Japanese doctor, Sayoko (Shibasaki Ko), who, for reasons unknown, assists him in his quest for vengeance.
While the 2024 version shares the basic storyline of the original, it diverges from the cult classic yakuza genre of its predecessor. Kurosawa said he wanted some variation to specifically portray more of his cinematic style.
“Cloud,” the other Kurosawa film showing in Busan, revolves around a factory worker named Yoshii (Suda Masaki) and his dual life as a professional online reseller.
“There are numerous genre movies that deal with action, but I see them a bit too removed from reality, maybe closer to fantasy action films with the involvement of characters like yakuza, police or murderer. With ‘Cloud,’ I wanted to make an action movie that shows extreme situations in which an average person not related to violence gets involved,” said Kurosawa.
For someone who has dedicated decades to making genre films or B-movies, what exactly is a genre film?
“It’s difficult to define, but I think a genre movie is something that depicts cinematic moments that are only possible in movies. Something that has the audience's eyes glued to the big screen and makes them want to keep watching certain scenes or that particular movie,” Kurosawa said.
The Busan film fest runs through Oct. 11.
