By NORIKI ISHITOBI/ Senior Staff Writer
May 15, 2024 at 08:00 JST
Originally, Hitoshi Omika joined the production of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist” as a crew member.
One day, he received a call from the director who said, “Keep your cool and listen to me, Omika.”
“He said, ‘Are you interested in appearing in a movie?’ and I irresponsibly accepted the offer, thinking it would be fine if it was coming from Hamaguchi,” Omika recalled. “To be honest, I never thought about going to Venice at the time.”
Omika was cast in the role of Takumi, the protagonist of the film that went on to win the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival last year.
Takumi lives as one with nature in mountainous Nagano Prefecture and is blunt and unapproachable.
At some point, he learns of a plan to develop a leisure facility in the area that will be managed by a talent agency.
The badly conceived project galvanizes Takumi and his neighbors, prompting them to take an increasingly confrontational position.
Takumi’s bluntness largely comes from how he speaks in fragmented phrases, such as “No,” “Not possible” and “No need.”
Omika was never instructed by Hamaguchi to play the character in a blunt manner. Instead, he just spoke the lines the way they appeared in the script.
That may be the secret to Hamaguchi’s directing style that brings out great performances from non-professional actors.
Born in Tochigi Prefecture in 1988, Omika graduated from the Kuwasawa Design School.
He worked as an assistant director and other behind-the-camera jobs with luminaries like Tatsushi Omori, Edmund Yeo and Hamaguchi.
He made his directorial debut in 2023 with “Father, Father,” a mid-length film he also wrote.
There are precedents for directors who play the lead in their films: Clint Eastwood, Takeshi Kitano and Shinya Tsukamoto.
“I could do this job because I trust Hamaguchi implicitly,” Omika said. “Perhaps one day I will be able to do the same if I learn to trust myself as a director.”
“Evil Does Not Exist” is currently showing nationwide.
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Hitoshi Omika (Photo by Ken Murakami)
