Yuri Sasamoto has given us a fascinating look at a possible future. Her short film, Can’t Judge – Corona and the Japanese Government is a sci-fi exploration of the dangers of complaisance in the face of what she seems to see as the growing threat of totalitarianism. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us.
Chris McClure, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): First, with the Olympics on the verge of starting, how well do you think the Japanese government will be able to handle Covid-19?
Yuri Sasamoto (YS):I don’t think Japan should hold the Olympic. If Japan do it, the fifth wave of coronavirus pandemic will come. Moreover, Olympic athletes will be accused of getting special consideration in the suffering of many companies.
(UM): How do you think Japan is doing as far its general response to Covid, including the distribution of vaccines?
(YS): The Japanese government believes that corona will end if they restrict opening hours and traffic and distribute vaccines. The budget saved by the former Governor of Tokyo was used up by subsidies. However, the government is planning to raise taxes and trying to create a digital agency for overseeing the property of the people in a flash. This is a characteristic of totalitarian nations, where people are numerically controlled like salmon specimens and lose their freedom. In the name of an emergency, the government is doing practice of the totalitarian state as they obey the government. People don’t think that the neighboring country, China, has maliciously created the coronavirus and spread them to other countries. However, we must be aware of that the neighboring country has an information-restricted regime. Why is India and other countries more damaging than the birthplace of Corona? There are many things we haven’t yet noticed. Like the eyes of a typhoon, the expanded area of the corona is moving. Despite the birthplace of Wuhan, the country behaves like a victim.
(UM): In the film, there are childish aliens who want to be taken care of and violent aliens who want to destroy. Do you think the threat fromeach of these is equal, or is one group more dangerous than the other?
(YS):Totalitarian nations try to send a lot of spies the other nations to invade easily. The Belt and Road Policy is one of them. Also, Some people unintentionally get stuck in the operation of the invading nation. The spies try to make the country weaker in order to invade it.
(UM): What do they promote to invade?
(YS):The people have no faith and no patriotism. Promote individualism and weaken ties. There is no self-help spirit. High tax Spoiled with subsidies and concession. Brainwashing coverage. Eliminate military, organizations and people who protect against threats from other countries. Corrupted customs…etc…
(UM): Could you tell us about the production? How long did it take? Were there any surprises?
(YS): I shot it in one day. The actors were selected from the next work “WHO IS BAD?”. Both of my movies satirize the threat of totalitarian nations. I am grateful that the actors performed as I expected. I wanted to simply express modern problems. When I tried to express the present age in a fictitious outer space, my movie worked.
(UM): There’s a funny song in the film. Did you write that? And did you write the music?
(YS): I wrote the lyrics. I asked the musician Altruist to compose. At that time, I hummed the image. I asked him to make music which make me imagine tragedy and comedy. The next work, “WHO IS BAD?”, was written and composed by AItruist. He also makes the melody.
(UM): What inspired you to make this film? Was there some incident that made you want to make it?
(YS): China has been enthusiastically researching viruses which cause respiratory illnesses such as SARS for many years. Then, China collected and synthesized about 2,000 kinds of viruses, and Corona was born as a biological weapon. However, Japan has not identified the origin of corona and is discussing corona measures, economic measures, and diplomatic security. After the blockade of Wuhan in January 2020, Chinese military biological weapons experts went to Wuhan. Taiwan and other reports said “Medical experts should be sent to investigate the effects of corona. However, sending a biological weapons expert means that coronavirus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” In September 2019, training assuming a corona leak is being held at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport. In addition, in February 2020, China made a vaccine which would take at least a year to develop in just one month. Imagine a world where you want a vaccine for Chiche, and you’re flirting with Chiche. Humans who receive the Chiche vaccination follow the Chiche alien like a robot.
(UM): Is the civil servant based on a real character?
(YS): Unfortunately, the government office is a vertically divided department, and the system is such that officials cannot make cross-cutting decisions. It takes longer than the private sector to get approval from the government. The people are suffering from big government disadvantages. Our only right is voting. The election system is a two-party system because of a single-member constituency system. So it is difficult for new or small parties to win the election.
(UM): Could you tell us about any upcoming projects?
(YS): The title of the next comedy movie is “WHO IS BAD?〜The shouting of Rock-and-roll Samurai〜” The synopsis of this movie is below. Koji Hatakeyama is in third grade at a high school. He was learning drunken boxing. However he was disgusted by the corruptness of Dojo owner, so he was looking for a new teacher. At the open campus of a university, he found New Swordless Kendo “Shinmutoryu-School Shouting Club”. He got lost in a parallel world while searching for the club. Weird people gathered in the club mixing the past, present, and future. He saw the turning points of the history. In the real world, great men such as Samurai Ryoma Sakamoto were disappearing from textbooks. The Shouting and Rock’n’roll music of Samurai.
© 2021. UniversalCinema Mag.