Photo/Illutration Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, right, and cast member Hitoshi Omika with the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize award at the 80th Venice International Film Festival for the movie ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ (Reuters)

VENICE--Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi is on a roll with his “Evil Does Not Exist” winning the runner-up Silver Lion award at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 9.

In 2021, Hamaguchi, 44, won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival for “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy.” The same year, his “Drive My Car” won the best screenplay award at the Cannes International Film Festival.

The only other cinematic giant to score a “Grand Slam” in the three most prestigious international film festivals was Akira Kurosawa.

But what makes Hamaguchi’s feat so remarkable is that he did it over the course of two years with three successive films.

It took Kurosawa 29 years to achieve such stature, starting with his “Rashomon” that won the Golden Lion award at Venice in 1951, “The Hidden Fortress” taking the Silver Bear at Berlin in 1959 and “Kagemusha” capturing the Palme d’Or at Cannes for best picture in 1980.

Hamaguchi threw himself into “Evil Does Not Exist” after he was asked by Hideko Ishibashi, who composed the original score for “Drive My Car,” to produce a video for her live performance.

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A screenshot from ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ ((c) 2023 NEOPA/Fictive)

The film revolves around a plan to construct a glamping site in an untouched and pristine mountain area, upsetting the delicate balance that had been in place in a nearby rural town.

CUT HIS TEETH ON DOCUMENTARIES

But Hamaguchi did not just emerge out of nowhere.

Before he found fame and fortune, Hamaguchi devoted 10 years to making documentary films that involved going to areas devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster and getting residents to talk about their experiences.

That focus on dialogue led to what became known as the “Hamaguchi method,” where he initially made his actors read their lines from the script without showing any emotion.

By doing this, he gave his actors “space” to flesh out their characters as they interpreted their lines and developed emotions to match.

The attachment to the Tohoku region that was evident in the documentary films has also been taken up by Hamaguchi in his latest works.

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Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, right, and cast member Hitoshi Omika pose on Sept. 9 with the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize award at the 80th Venice International Film Festival for the movie ‘Evil Does Not Exist.’ (Reuters)

For example, “Evil Does Not Exist” was filmed in Nagano while “Drive My Car” was based in Hiroshima and “Asako I & II” (Netemo sametemo), his debut commercial film of 2018, is closely linked with Osaka.

The locations he used created a unique atmosphere that is closely linked with the narrative. That approach was likely developed while Hamaguchi was working on documentary films in the Tohoku region.

Hamaguchi has said he shied away from commercial film making immediately after he graduated the Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media for the simple reason such an environment left him unable to create a film that he thought was appealing.

But now he said, “Producers have emerged who respect my approach to directing films.”

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