Saturday Fiction on the Last Movie Day of the Year

December 1st is the last 'Movie Day' of the year.
After work, I managed to slip into the movie theater.

What I wanted to see was director Lou Ye's latest film, 'Saturday Fiction'.

Actually, on the opening day of this film, there was a screening at my local Uplink Kichijoji with a stage greeting by director Lou Ye and Joe Odagiri, but as you might expect, the tickets sold out instantly.

However, after the screening on the night of December 1st, there was a talk show with film critic Naoto Morita and Shanghai-born film journalist Xu Haochen, and there was also a drink service.

This is because Shanghai is a city with a cafe culture, and a cafe where jazz is played appears in the movie as well.

Thanks to that, I was able to enjoy the movie while savoring some delicious coffee with milk added.

This film also features a play-within-a-play and has a complex nested structure, so to be honest, I was confused at first.

The backgrounds of the characters are also complex, and even Xu, who is from Shanghai and has studied the historical background of that time, said there were parts that were quite difficult to understand.

The director commented,
'It is a film that depicts the fates of various people during a complex global crisis,'
but this film, which progresses during the countdown to one week before the attack on Pearl Harbor, mixes historical facts with fiction, and one probably cannot truly understand this film without having studied the history of that time deeply.

In the Shanghai of that time, where people of various nationalities came and went, and where people within China with various stances were each acting for what they believed to be right, who was in what position, and who could be trusted?

For those who can understand everything about this unsettling world where everyone is probing each other's true intentions, it must look like a much more precise shape than it does to me.

Even so, I was completely drawn into this film, which is over two hours long, from beginning to end.

The beauty and sexiness of Gong Li, who plays a great actress in the film as well.
Her skillful action as a seasoned spy.
I was truly captivated.

Director Lou Ye and lead actress Gong Li were both born in 1965.

Even though they are from different places, perhaps there are many things they can understand in the process of filmmaking precisely because they truly lived through the same era in China.

And I was also happy to have been able to hear the talk show after the screening.

This film was first released in 2019.

It took about four years until its screening in Japan this year, and Xu said,
'I am very happy that this film is being shown in Japan,'

In China, film censorship is strict, and director Lou Ye is known as a director who continues to challenge that system.

That is why both Mori and Xu said they want more people to see director Lou Ye's films.

Furthermore, the Lyceum Theatre that appears in the film was renovated after the movie was shot there, so it is also a valuable film where you can see the theatre as it was before the renovation.

Mr. Mori said,
"The director may also have had the desire to preserve the appearance of China before it was lost."
he remarked.

Also, the film's title, "Saturday Fiction," is the title of the play performed within the movie, but according to the director, this film is
"also an homage to the 'Saturday School,' which occupies the most important position in the history of Chinese literature."
he said.

This film is based on Hong Ying's "Shanghai Death" (it seems there is no Japanese translation available) and Riichi Yokomitsu's "Shanghai," and Mr. Mori said,
"I was surprised that Director Lou Ye had read this novel by Riichi Yokomitsu."
he commented.

Also, there are many points in this film that are reminiscent of "Casablanca" and Hitchcock's "Vertigo," and both Mr. Mori and Mr. Xu commented,
"It is typical of a director who loves movies and Hitchcock."

The more you love movies, the more you will likely enjoy this film.

And I was delighted as a fan to hear that Ayumu Nakajima, who had not yet broken through as much as he has now when this film was made, was selected for an important role in this movie and was highly acclaimed when it was released in China in 2019.

Mr. Mori also commented that it was amazing that Nakajima was selected for this film and played this role before he established his recent character as a "lovable loser."

It is by no means a happy ending, but I also think that the conclusion Yu Jin, played by Gong Li, chose for herself might have been a happy one for her.

I listened to the jazz performance playing during the end credits feeling as if I had just had a dream.

I am really glad I was able to see this movie.

Thank you for reading until the end this time as well.

* The customary Christmas tree has also appeared at the L.L.Bean in Kichijoji.