By Gill Pringle
Japanese writer-director Momoko Ando directs her younger sister Sakura Ando (pictured) in 0.5mm, an eccentric story about a freewheeling young nurse who provides in-home care for geriatric patients.
After she is requested to share the bed of one elderly client – an experience which ends in unexpected disaster – she travels around the desolate Shikoku Islands taking care of more elderly men.
At a whopping 196-minute run time, 0.5mm is surprisingly engrossing between Ando’s quirky direction, her sister’s screen presence and the unusual showcasing of several of Japan’s most distinguished actors and comedians including Toshio Sakata and Masahiko Tsugawa.
We chatted with Ando, 33, during the 28th Tokyo International Film Festival where 0.5mm was shown in the Japan Now category:
Both your parents are in the Japanese film industry. Did they encourage you early on to become a filmmaker?
“Not always. My father, Eiji Okuda, decided to become an actor when he was ten so when I got to about six years old, he told me I needed to start deciding what I wanted to do by time I was ten years old. He’s quite an eccentric person so now I understand but, when I was little, it was an enormous pressure and I really felt I needed to decide and that, once I’d decided, I was not allowed to change my mind.”
So what did you decide?
“I decided I would be an artist or a painter because, at the time, I wasn’t aware there was such a profession as a film director. I went to study at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and afterwards my father was working on a film and asked if I’d like to come and help in the set design since this would use my artistic skills. That turned out to be a huge moment for me, when my brain went to my heart and I realised how much it made me tick. I realised that this was the “art” that I wanted to do although at the same time I was really scared as well because I wasn‘t sure if I could handle the media of film – it was like a monster to me.”
But that was challenging too?
“Oh yes. I am the sort of person that if someone tells me there’s a ghost in a house, I will go and look for it rather than run away which is what most people would do.”
And you then went on to study film at New York University?
“Yes, at that time they had a one-year short course in filmmaking with a small class. I didn’t particularly enjoy it because I realised that filmmaking wasn’t something to study but more something you had to just immerse yourself in so after that I went to work as an assistant director so I could see how films were really made. Not that I recommend this for everyone but, for me, I wanted to learn by doing rather than learn in a classroom.”
It’s very bold to make a movie about senior citizens when the accepted wisdom in most countries is to only make youth-oriented films
“It’s even worse in Japan! You have to be pretty, young and be an idol in order to work in film. There are so many well-respected actors and actresses who are older but there’s no opportunity to show their talent which is really sad. I was very conscious of that fact and I wanted to make a movie with legends.”
What drew you to this subject, firstly with your book and then with your movie?
“Our family looked after my grandmother for eight years and she taught me a lot from her life. There are a lot of similarities between the first few years of life and the final few years.”
There’s a perception that the eastern culture takes care of their elderly whereas in the west, there’s a rush to stick the old folk into nursing homes. Would you agree?
“We do take care of our elderly and we’ve always had a culture of respecting elders but that’s changing now, and young people don’t really give a shit about their elders anymore. I feel very sad about that because, basically anyone who is older than me has seen more things than I have, and that’s something that should be respected. Especially with elderly people who have experienced World War II – within the next ten years they will all be gone – so I wanted to capture that and pass the baton to the next generation. I feel like I am in the middle of the generations, at 33 years old, I have a baby now so I feel it’s important to learn from those who are older than us.”
Was it difficult persuading any of the actors to reveal their infirmities in 0.5mm?
“The first actor, Junkichi Orimoto, who wears a diaper for the film, was reluctant because it’s a very difficult part. So I called him and we met at the Tokyo Station Hotel in a very formal situation. The interesting thing about film is that it will last for hundreds of years and so he really needed to trust me. I view my relationship with the cast as almost like a marriage – it takes commitment and trust. You can’t just have a casting director call them up, you have to meet them in person and ask, ’Will you marry me?’”
Your sister Sakura Ando is the star of the film. What was it like directing your sister?
“Amazing. It was the best experience I have ever had. With her I can create something that I wouldn’t be able to do with any other actor. It’s like 1 + 1 = Infinity. She always knows exactly, precisely what I want. Sometimes we don’t even need words, we just understand each other completely. I adore my sister and she’s my muse. Every time I write, I imagine her in my head like a perfect doll.”
Did you direct Sakura when you were growing up?
“Yes, all the time. It’s just me and her with no other siblings. Once I wanted to have a younger brother so I made Sakura into my brother. I took her to the hairdresser and had her hair cut short, and then I made her start skate-boarding because that’s how I envisioned my imaginary little brother, with short hair and a skate-board. She became the perfect little brother for one year and then I got bored and told her she could be my sister again and go back to being a girl.”
