No rehearsal, no practice, and no re-takes – Japanese actress Kaori Momoi took a new approach as director and lead actor for her latest work. Revealed as her second directorial effort, “火 Hee” was first revealed at the Kyoto International Film Festival by way of a documentary about how the feature was made. She told ARTINFO about the decision to film it all in her own house; “we didn’t have any money! And we didn’t have time. So it was the best way. So it was a beautiful drive to the studio!”Filmed in ten days in Momoi’s LA home, it sees Momoi play the lead role as Azusa, an aging prostitute. She encounters a psychiatrist Dr. Sanada, whom she had met many years before. While visiting his clinic she reveals her troubled life story, the doctor seeing himself mirrored in the many men of her life, as she divulges increasingly surprising secrets.The film is produced by Kazuyoshi Okuyama of Yoshimoto Kogyo, whose credits include the 1997 Palme d'Or winner “The Eel” by Shohei Imamura and “Sonatine” by “Beat” Takeshi Kitano.Momoi spoke with ARTINFO at the 8th Okinawa International Movie Festival in Japan.
↧