Sayaka is alone… Well not totally, she has Teddy, her stuffed bear to keep her company as she walks the streets of the city at night. She talks to Teddy, she tries to understand why the love of her life has left her. Somehow walking and hoping for rain brings Sayaka comfort.
She misses him. If only she could see more than a memory of him, if only he’d come back. Sayaka explores the beauty of the night as she walks. She points out to Teddy the eccentricities of life, love and loneliness as she goes about her various nightly activities like playing chess with Teddy or eating noodles. Before going to bed, she confronts Teddy about the lonely world they live in and tries to reassure him that life will get better… if only it would rain.
This story, Teddy Bear, will probably be one of the favorites by the viewers of Ashita. As it has very sad undertones, it is, by far, not as tragic as many other scenes in the movie. Some people may even be able to identify with Sayaka and her perspective on live. Certainly the character is a little off centre—being that she is in her late 20s and walks through the city at night talking to a teddy bear. But the same thing that makes the character and story off centre also gives is sweetness and melodramatic romanticism.
The part of Sayaka is brilliantly played by Yoshiko Nomura who brings a natural comfort to the role. I was very happy when Yoshiko accepted to play the part, I knew she would bring the character to life in the way only Yoshiko’s natural personality could. Teddy Bear was very challenging for me to create and shoot. Sayaka is indeed a very complex character, but she has to be portrayed as simple. For me, its always easy and fun to write dark, complex characters with a lot of demons... but with Sayaka who is a cute girl with a cute teddy bear, to make that kind of sweet image have complicated layers was very interesting. The fact that she talks to the stuffed bear helps, other absurdities like playing chess with the bear also adds to the layers. Essentially what I wanted to create with this story and this character was the sense of estrangement that heartbreak brings. When your heart is broken, you always feel like you’re the only one in the world who is hurting. You feel like no matter happens life will always feel this empty. Before writing the story I thought about these things and then I added the ‘what if’—What if the heartbroken feeling doesn’t go away? What if someone carried this feeling for a long, long time? What if her heart is broken because she lost her soul mate? How would it change her? How would she be affected? I bring those answers out in film, in a very unique way. I feel that the answer is not clear. Any human reaction is never fully clear. But the result is a simple girl who tries to deal with complex feelings.
She misses him. If only she could see more than a memory of him, if only he’d come back. Sayaka explores the beauty of the night as she walks. She points out to Teddy the eccentricities of life, love and loneliness as she goes about her various nightly activities like playing chess with Teddy or eating noodles. Before going to bed, she confronts Teddy about the lonely world they live in and tries to reassure him that life will get better… if only it would rain.
This story, Teddy Bear, will probably be one of the favorites by the viewers of Ashita. As it has very sad undertones, it is, by far, not as tragic as many other scenes in the movie. Some people may even be able to identify with Sayaka and her perspective on live. Certainly the character is a little off centre—being that she is in her late 20s and walks through the city at night talking to a teddy bear. But the same thing that makes the character and story off centre also gives is sweetness and melodramatic romanticism.
The part of Sayaka is brilliantly played by Yoshiko Nomura who brings a natural comfort to the role. I was very happy when Yoshiko accepted to play the part, I knew she would bring the character to life in the way only Yoshiko’s natural personality could. Teddy Bear was very challenging for me to create and shoot. Sayaka is indeed a very complex character, but she has to be portrayed as simple. For me, its always easy and fun to write dark, complex characters with a lot of demons... but with Sayaka who is a cute girl with a cute teddy bear, to make that kind of sweet image have complicated layers was very interesting. The fact that she talks to the stuffed bear helps, other absurdities like playing chess with the bear also adds to the layers. Essentially what I wanted to create with this story and this character was the sense of estrangement that heartbreak brings. When your heart is broken, you always feel like you’re the only one in the world who is hurting. You feel like no matter happens life will always feel this empty. Before writing the story I thought about these things and then I added the ‘what if’—What if the heartbroken feeling doesn’t go away? What if someone carried this feeling for a long, long time? What if her heart is broken because she lost her soul mate? How would it change her? How would she be affected? I bring those answers out in film, in a very unique way. I feel that the answer is not clear. Any human reaction is never fully clear. But the result is a simple girl who tries to deal with complex feelings.
-MJ
No comments:
Post a Comment