First Vietnam-Japan film based on a real story
Shooting of the first Vietnam-Japan feature film, based on author Komatsu Miyuki's decision to have her mother spend the rest of her life in Vietnam, will begin in November.
Shot mostly in Vietnam, it will be directed by Kabuki Omori and Tat Binh; and will star actress Keiko Matsuzaka.
Miyuki's autobiographical work, Quang Doi Cuoi Cung O Vietnam (The Remaining Part of Life in Vietnam), was first published in Japanese and translated into Vietnamese later.
She has come to Vietnam to teach Japanese, but cannot stop thinking about her mother living alone in Japan. After her mother visited Hanoi, she was convinced to stay on and live here with her daughter.
Kitazato has written the script for the film produced by Japanese Argo Pictures and Yutaka Otaka.
After reading the script, he felt "it is a moving story about elderly people", director Tat Binh said at a press conference in Hanoi last week.
Kitazato said he read many historical and political books about Vietnam, but was stuck until he read five Vietnamese novels that helped him understand the "humanity and deep sentiments" of the Vietnamese people.
Director Omori said the script enhanced his understanding of Vietnam, a country that he knew about mainly through newspaper reports of the wars it had to fight.
Japanese actress Keiko Matsuzaka, who will play the film's main character, said that she is struck by the traffic in Hanoi, at the way the people rode motorcycles in crowded streets.
Matsuzaka, a well known actress in Japan with prominent roles in films and television serials for over 20 years, will also have to learn Vietnamese to play the role of a Japanese teacher here.
The film is scheduled for release in both countries later this year.