2019-06-22

Competing Film for Golden Goblet Award | LITTLE NIGHTS, LITTLE LOVE: the Story of Ordinary People In

Isaka Kotaro is a popular Japanese writer in China. LITTLE NIGHTS, LITTLE LOVE is his only love novel at present. After the adaptation of Director Rikiya Imaizumi and Screenwriter Kenichi Suzuki, it became a film of the same name and shortlisted for Golden Goblet Award of SIFF. On June 20, LITTLE NIGHTS, LITTLE LOVE was screened in Shanghai Studios, with its Director Rikiya Imaizumi and other creators attended the event, who receipt the warm welcome from the audience.

LITTLE NIGHTS, LITTLE LOVE is an emsemble film. Sato played by Miura Haruma was an ordinary employee of a company, and met a girl on his way to distribute questionnaires. He thought the acquaintance was "doomed". The person beside him is his superior Fujima, who had to re-examine himself because his wife left without saying goodbye. Boxer Winston Ono who was concerned by Sato made up his mind to confess to the desirable girl if he won before finals … Then, ten years later, their lives have changed. Through the fate of these small potatoes, the film reproduced the exquisite story structure of Isaka Kotaro; While Rikiya Imaizumi used exquisite lens of distinctive style and accurate portrayal of emotion to add literary and artistic flavor to the film.

JUST ONLY LOVE, another work directed by Rikiya Imaizumi, was also shown at this SIFF. As a director good at this kind of "rubbish love film", he talked about the original intention of his creation, "because there are a lot of movies about those vigorous love, and stories that are closer to our real life and happen to us are less shot. The stories with common lovelorn, unrequited affection and human weakness deeply resonate with me." He said that love was a very important topic to show interpersonal relationships, hoping to bring more ordinary people\'s love stories to the audience.

The birth of LITTLE NIGHTS, LITTLE LOVE was something of a fluke. Rikiya Imaizumi revealed that the prototype of the original was just a very short story. Kotaro Isaka wanted Musician Saito Kazuyoshi to create a piece of music for the story, thus a "serenade" was created. Kotaro Isaka was inspired again to expand the little story into an emsemble novel. "In this process, Kotaro Isaka happened to watch my short film and said it was the style he wanted, so three of us finally finished the work. "

Hero Miura Haruma who was unattended also sent a special message to the Shanghai audience, saying that the plot of the work was not grand, but the true emotion that each character had in his heart was enriched in every frame of the picture. "It is the accumulation and interaction of these emotions that makes a small story into a miracle". Rikiya Imaizumi added that everyone in the film was ordinary small potatoes, experienced all kinds of failures, setbacks or successes, "but these seemingly ordinary stories are intertwined to form a serenade".

He also praised Miura Haruma for his solid acting skills, "he is an actor with both popularity and strength. He can not only express what the script requires, but his impromptu performance will often become a stroke of genius and immediately make the characters vivid." He cited an example in the film that Sato who was shy and introverted pointed the side of the diamond box at the girl when making a proposal. "This action was impromptu designed by Miura Haruma, but we think it was particularly good, because this small detail deepens Sato\'s sensitive and unconfident personality traits."