Like Someone in Love – a new film by Certified Copy director Abbas Kiarostami – premiered at the 50th New York Film Festival on October 4th. A full in-depth review of the film can be found here. Kiarostami was in attendance and joined audiences members for a post-screening Q&A, facilitated by a NYFF staff member. Below is a transcription of the Q&A.
Q: Was the film made specific to Japan? Or was it adapted to Japan?
A: The idea first came to me 18 years ago. I wrote it specifically for Japan, with its cultural influences on my mind.
Q: You showed a lot of cityscape from the taxi cab. What did you want to capture about the visual spectacle of Tokyo?
A: I wanted to show it the way it is. It is a global idea — structure and aesthetics. What I wanted to put in the film are the view of the city with the narration of a grandmother’s voice. I did that with Akiko listening to her phone messages. The most important was the impact of hearing the messages on the girl, what was shown on her face. The audience, too. Your facial expressions while watching the film interest me.
Q: You are known for using non-professional actors, but Like Someone in Love uses professional actors. Do you notice a difference? Was it difficult working with Japanese actors?
A: At first I was tentative, but this movie proved to me that directors often interfere too much with actors. I gave my actors minimal instruction and direction, and I got exactly what I wanted. Once [the director] picks the right choices, they can express in their own ways.
Q: Do you prepare your images while shooting? How do you form images for the film?
A: I do have images in my mind for the characters. I get inspiration from specific people. They usually don’t know they are inspiration for my characters. In this case the film is in Japan, so I couldn’t use people I knew, but I found people who fit my characters afterwards. It took me one and a half years to find the couple in the film. For the old man I didn’t know who I wanted but I knew exactly the kind of person that I didn’t want. We ended up having 150 auditions.
Q: In your films there is a lot of driving, why does it interest you so much?
A: At my age I should quit driving. People don’t question why a conversation happens in the office or in the bedroom, but they do if it happens in a car? I guess I should change that. But, my next film is already decided. Sorry.
Q: Both in this film and in Certified Copy (2010) there are lots of questions left unanswered. Did you intend for it to be this way?
A: I definitely don’t have any more answers than you do. I hope we can reach something from the collective experience of watching the film together. No filmmaker is there to answer questions. We are here to ask.
Photo Credit: © Melle van Essen – Link
