Japan Cuts 2019 Interview: DEMOLITION GIRL Director Matsugami Genta, Star Kitai Aya Talk Teenage Crushing

Demolition Girl places a coming-of-age story against the backdrop of the sketchy world of fetish videos.  At Japan Cuts 2019, LMD had an exclusive chat with director Matsugami Genta and actress Kitai Aya, who has a standout performance as the troubled teen who will either crush or be crushed.  

 

 

 

Matsugami Genta:  So, yes, I do feel a sort of an unfairness within the world today.  And I feel that especially women can become a victim of the society we live in.  I think it’s true, perhaps all over the world, but I feel it very much in Japan.  Especially related to the way we value women within society, and the value systems we work within.  

 

And so, sometimes, when women are saying what is right, they are still criticised for saying some of the things they are actually thinking, and seeing that, I think that there’s something wrong with society, and so, I wanted to counter these narratives, and wanted to depict women who fight back.

 

 

MG:  That’s what I think, as well.

 

 

MG:  These videos are something that I actually didn’t know about:  It was just through a friend in conversation that I learned about these videos that exist online.  I was surprised that they exist.  

 

But separate from that, when I was talking about making this film, I knew that it wouldn’t be interesting just depicting a high school girl who was working very hard, and I needed something else.  So, this act of crushing things; I thought I could link it with this idea of destroying something within society, and so these two came together within the film.

 

But it doesn’t mean that I like these fetish videos!

 

 

MG:  Thank you very much.

 

 

 

MG:  Yes, I think.  But even beyond that, I am trying to point towards this adult society that I want to depict; whether that these contradictions that exist, and also -- perhaps more so -- the unfairness that exists in society.  So, I had that in the forefront of my mind when I was writing this.  But I do believe that in Japanese schools, if this were to really happen, that this is actually the way they would treat a student.

 

Regarding students and schools, I do believe that Japanese schools, and Japanese society, at large, often care a lot about appearances, and also rules, and that can be a good and bad thing at times; but I think those kind of things come into play, and it’s not necessarily logical.

 

 

Kitai Aya:  Perhaps Japanese families are maybe like that?.

 

MG:  You know, I think families are not so simple: You can’t just hate someone for doing bad things, or for being bad.  Perhaps this is just not limited to Japanese families; you can’t just go ahead and hate people.  This is something that is sort of difficult to put into words, it’s sort of an experiential thing; but I think family is a lot more complicated in that way.

 

KA:  In terms of when I was acting Cocoa as a character, I was thinking about how perhaps this family has a past; a past that has brought them together in some way.  So, those are things that I had in mind when I was acting her role.

 

MG:  In terms of directing, and also the acting, I think it could be easy to depict the brother and father as very plain evil characters.  I could’ve gone further with it, but I wanted to include a humanness, including humour, and to have them sort of have these endearing moments in order to not depict them as just plain evil, but as people with some humanness within them.  That was something that I kept in mind, throughout.

 

 

MG:  First of all, as the director, I just want to say that I think because Cocoa’s character really doesn’t have a place to go within her house, and at school, to me, it was very important to have her have a place of refuge, and that was in her friends.  I thought to depict her as having no place at all, would simply be too sad.  

 

Personally, myself, I have been helped by my friends, so I was bringing that experience into it.  I think especially during your adolescence, more so than the adults, or other parents, or teachers around us, at least in my experience, friends were very important in my adolescent youth.  And as I got older, things may change a little bit, but I wanted to depict Cocoa in this way, to have friends who were helping her.

 

 

KA:  So, when we first met, the three of us, we went in, and it was just around lunch time, and the director came up to us and gave us $50, and said, “Go eat lunch together.”  So, we all went out to eat, and we really started talking.  Given that we were all close in age, and some of us knew of each other, even though we had never met, we recognised faces, and I believe that as a younger person, it’s not that difficult to become friendly with people, so, we just had a lot of fun talking with each other.

 

 

KA:  I actually feel that almost all the aspects in Cocoa is very different from myself.  I believe that I am not as sturdy of a character as she is.  I don’t think I’m as strong-willed, and her will to keep on fighting is something that I very much respect in her, but it is also something that I find different from myself.

 

But in terms of something that perhaps she and I share, is the idea of thinking that people around me could always be an enemy. {To Director Matsugami} Don’t you think that is true? {Laughs}

 

MG:  Yes, that is true.

 

 

KA:  This is the first time anyone’s asked me this, but I think that perhaps because she had nothing to lose that she was able to be strong.  She doesn’t really have hope at this point.  When she’s confronted with the yakuza, she’s lost everything, and she has nothing to lose.  In that way, I think she is able to say, ‘I can do whatever at this point, because there’s nothing for me to lose.’

 

MG:  At that point, she has no money, she’s sort of thinking, ‘Whatever.’  The yakuza character really is, for me, an example of a bad adult; and so, to be thinking that, ’Oh, she’s now also going to be crushed by this guy, as well,’ I think at that point, perhaps Cocoa’s character still had that will to say that I’m not gonna stand for this.

 

KA:  Perhaps there’s this feeling of adults are all shitty.  And also feeling this hurt, and feeling no hope, and saying sort of, ‘Fuck adults.’  Also, Kazuo’s character is also a bad adult, in a way, however, there is something also endearing about him.  

 

MG:  He is just stupid. {Laughs}

 

 

MG:  So, the thing is, after the film is over, the best case scenario for me is whoever is watching it sort of imagines what Cocoa might be doing afterwards.  However, for myself, I understand that nothing is really resolved in the ending.  There’s not much hope beyond that, necessarily.  And so, I do believe that perhaps she continues to have sort of a hard life beyond the ending, but what I also think, is that she has herself: She understood at this point that she has herself; she knows who she is, and that is a strength of hers.  So, perhaps it would be fun to make something like a sequel for her?

 

KA:  Perhaps the sequel title is Cocoa Becomes A Nighttime Butterfly. 

 

MG:  Perhaps in Las Vegas. {Laughs}

 

 

KA:  I have a few projects, but I’m actually not allowed to say. {Laughs} 

 

MG:  The next film that I’m working on is a fiction film that is set in Fukushima, where the nuclear incident happened.  It’s been almost 10 years, and so I feel that it’s about time that this idea can be depicted through fiction.