If Iwai Shunji has any personal style, it is necessary to compare the similarities and differences with other Japanese youth film directors, such as Xuejingxun, Shiota Akihiko and even Kitano Takeshi. First of all, Shunji Iwai's style has the style that Japanese directors usually have-slow rhythm, which is a common feature of Japanese people. They are too reserved, so they are often hidden in the narrative of the film, always holding a lute. Half covering his face, he doesn't set up very intense conflicts, he always speaks out, like a long poem, but also like a piece of prose.
Iwai Shun's two outstanding styles are the process of his film formation. Iwai often writes novels first, then adapts the novels into movie scripts, and finally makes them into movies. These belong to three different levels of artistic creation, so the final film is made. It is often cleverly conceived and finely polished. For example, in this "Love Letter", because of the death of a man, the two women communicated through a "love letter", which finally led to a secret love buried for more than ten years and a missed love letter. When I got the "love letter card", I was very at a loss, and I wanted to hide my tears in front of my schoolgirls, but there were no pockets in my clothes, so I couldn't perform the action of distracting others. Such a confession is so subtle and beautiful, how many people have been touched.
Of course, in the process of this triple adaptation, there will also be differences between movies and novels. For example, in the novel "Lily Zhou", Iwai wrote Yoko Kuno to death, but in the movie, Yoko Kuno is rational. A bald head appears in the class, as if Yoko's behavior is more logical in the novel. However, in the novel, Iwai still lacks a sense of substitution of characters, and many of the tones should not be the words of teenagers, but the usage of words of obvious middle-aged men, which is ignored by Iwai. Overall, Iwai's ability to direct is greater than his ability to write novels.
It should be said that Japanese youth films often involve some cruel youth such as school violence, aid dating, nihility in life, etc. This is mainly manifested in the movie "All About Lily Zhou" in Iwai's world. Most of the time Iwai Often the focus is not on the dark side of youth, but on the beauty of youth, which is different from Akihiko Yantian. Akihiko Yantian tends to find some "deep" themes in the selection of materials, such as "The Canary", but the film's The presentation is not very good. Of course, Mikai Iwai also often carries some regrets. After all, life would be so boring if there were no regrets?
The other characteristic is that Iwai pays great attention to the simplicity of the picture, and the picture itself is very beautiful, which often requires some fixed shots, but in "Love Letter", the director held the camera for a long time, maybe the director wanted to be in such a quiet and slow movie. Bring some energy. In terms of music, the selection is more ethereal, and there are many long-lens applications.
On the whole, the gentle style and spirit of Iwai's films can be traced back to Yasujiro Ozu. I always imagine an old friend telling a warm story in front of you. The memory is deep and seems to be forgotten quickly, as if in my heart. A familiar moment passed quietly.
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