He is one of the most beloved contemporary directors in the Japanese animation scene: Mamoru Hosoda is counted among the great famous names of Japanese cinema, such as Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon, Mamoru Oshii. But his poetics are peculiar, dreamlike, didactic, making him an eclectic director and at the same time defined in his imprint. The October 16 celebrated animation director Mamoru Hosoda presided over the 16th edition of the Rome Film Fest 2021 holding a Masterclass very interesting in which he revealed some background of his directorial life and conversed with the audience in the room showing his human side and how his personal experiences are inextricably mixed with his animated works, also releasing some exclusive interviews.
The director is in Rome for the promotion of his latest film, BEAUTIFUL (here you can find our review), in competition in the independent section Alice in the City 2021, and which will be released in Italian cinemas on January 22, 2022, distributed by Koch Media And The Warners. Hosoda, very excited for his first visit to Rome, thanked all those present for being numerous, a warmth that the public of fans reciprocated with enthusiasm.
Mamoru Hosoda: the director of little things
Speaking of the importance it has not only in the directorial scene, but also in the more conventionally academic one, being the subject of university theses and documentary studies (such as the monographic video by Dario Moccia “It all started with the Digimon“), Mamoru Hosoda reiterated that he does not intend to produce works thinking they are the subject of a thesis, but”my goal is produce something different, new, and think about how to best achieve it. Every time I produce I realize that I still have a lot to learn“.
Despite this drive for change and constant improvement, there are recurring elements of the first works which have repercussions in current works: he affirmed that this constant is present in the work of many artists, as if they were a magnifying glass that allows you to observe elements that will be explored later. One could therefore think, in general, of a set of first works. For example, regarding his personal experience, in addition to Digimon: Adventure, another first feature such as Boku wa World Game has a more “Hollywood”, Which will also have repercussions in subsequent works.
Speaking of the two episodes of the series Ojamajo Doremi directed by the master, 40 and 49 of the fourth season, which are in effect two of the most popular episodes of the entire anime series, for their narrative setting that is unhinged from the most classic majokko of the series and which is addressed towards a meditated contemplative structure, Mamoru Hosoda claimed to have thought of these episodes following one business affair not too happy. It is known how the director was initially chosen by Hayao Miyazaki as director of Howl’s Moving Castle, but that due to internal differences he was soon replaced by Miyazaki himself: Hosoda reiterated how the choice to create episodes in which a sorceress stops being metaphorically represents all those unfinished things that he was unable to complete in the Studio film Ghibli.
When asked how his passion for animation and cinema in general and the desire to become an animator was born in him, and what were the works that influenced him, Hosoda claimed to have lots of directors and inspirational films, but that surely the very first to have entranced him were two films of ’79 in elementary school: Ginga Tetsudo (Galaxy Express 999) And Lupine III: The Castle of Cagliostro by Miyazaki. But despite this, there was no burning desire in him to become a director, he was simply fascinated by the figure and the fantastic worlds he could create.
Thinking of starting to work in drawing, he decides to start a painting university, specializing in oil. In those years he saw thousands of films and above all he knew the work of Victor Erise, The spirit of the hive, which influences him and changes his perspective on life, being a very conceptual work. He therefore understood that he wanted to become a director, in particular of animation: this is, according to him, a very powerful means to convey cinematic messages.
Animation cinema as a new way to go
Animated cinema is an important component of Hosoda’s directorial life, so much so that he categorically refuses to think of returning to live action cinema (during university he shot a live medium film), because according to him “the history of cinema has a longer history and we have explored different forms of expression. Animation, which I love, has a very short history and I think the full potential of animation expression has not been explored, so I want to explore them myself.“. So much so that when he reveals the meaning behind the name of his studio, Chizu, states that in Japanese this word means “map”, Seeing animation as an unexplored field, a blank board yet to be drawn: his task is to fill this map thanks to his films, revealing things of life not yet manifested through animated cinema.
From the point of view of the production of his films, Mamoru Hosoda explained how important it is focus on the image you want to convey to the public and that to make a good film it is not enough to verbally narrate a story to make it pleasant, but it is important above all to create a filmic context and understand how the public receives it through a consequentiality of images.
Furthermore, the planning must be very clear in order to progress quickly and effectively; collaboration with the production staff is essential for the success of the message intended to be conveyed.
In Beautiful, for example, there are international collaborations that have allowed the making of a spectacular film. Mamoru Hosoda explained how he asked Tomm Moore to collaborate on the film, having helped him in the advertising promotion in Japan of the latest film by the Swedish filmmaker, Wolfwalkers. Hosoda thinks that to counter the giants of world animation, especially the Pixar and the Disney, it is necessary for the independents to collaborate in order to create productions of considerable depth. Hosoda then asked Moore what his next film was next Wolfwalkers: to the response of the Swede “OI want to go on vacation“, The Japanese director replied”On vacation? During the pandemic? It is truly a paradox! Let’s make a movie together!“.
Death as a natural component of life
Emotionally, Mamoru Hosoda pours out a lot of his own personal experience in his works: looking at a clip of one of his films in which there is the death of a character, the director explained how his intention was not to kill any of his characters, but that that choice was necessary for the development of the movie. Hosoda suffered the mourning of the loss of his mother, and this made him understand how death must not necessarily be viewed in a negative way, because it is an essential component of life: “If we are to describe life, we must also describe death“.
Also in another of his films we find the death of a character, but this time it seems to have a different meaning for Hosoda: “It was a time when my wife and I wanted to have a child. But at the same time I was insecure. Once my son was born, would I be able to see him grow up? This made me anxious. The death of the father is perhaps treated lightly, but this is not the case. Death must be seen as a natural thing. Making a dramatic cut was almost blasphemous: I wanted it to be as realistic as possible“.
Mamoru Hosoda – The filmography
- Digimon Adventure (1999)
- Digimon Adventure: Our War Game (2000)
- Superflat Monogram (2003)
- ONE PIECE: The secret island of Baron Omatsuri (2005)
- The girl who leapt through time (2006)
- Summer Wars (2009)
- Digimon Adventure 3D: Digimon Grandprix! (2009)
- Wolf Children – Ame and Yuki the wolf children (2012)
- The Boy and the Beast (2015)
- Mirai (2018)
- Beautiful (2021)
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