Interview with PARADISE NEXT director Yoshihiro Hanno

Kyle Cubr: How did PARADISE NEXT come to be?

Yoshihiro Hanno: Since 1998, I’ve been a film composer. So when I thought about [expression beyond just] a music career from colors to words to peoples’ emotions and so on, I thought the film could be a good art form to express those components.

KC: Speaking more to your career as a composer, you’ve worked with Jia Zhanke (on PLATFORM and THE MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART) and Hou Hsiao-Hsien (on FLOWERS OF SHANGHI). Have they had any influence on your filmmaking?

YH: What I most admire about them is that they created and established their style. Creating your own style is such a crucial element to be a great filmmaker. Through them, I learned how to establish my own style. I was influenced by them quite a bit. I put more weight on not creating a manipulative film but [in] creating a signature style that I could only do. I weighed [making] my own style with just making a film. 

KC: [What was the experience like of scoring your own film]?

YH: To me, the composing of film and directing of film is the same. Although those two roles are a part of making a film, directing to me is saying yes to this or no to this [such as] with editing. Music [and composing] helps get the film towards its goal. One thing I think that I might [do] different from other directors, not music-composer directors, is that I already create the sound design and music [while working] on the script. I can imagine what sound effects and music could come in [while I’m] writing and imagining where the story goes. It happens at the same time.

KC: The narrative follows a straight line but features these elliptical moments where either flashbacks to past events or waking dreams of people the characters faced in the past that remind me of refrains and codas in music. Was this your intention?

YH: With the chronological timeline, I’m not too conscious about how the music is composed in the flashbacks and with the gaps between the past and the present. I [focused] more on the harmony and balance. Its not necessarily the same songs. Its like a tone that I create. The same tone but different songs each time so that [makes something] distinguishing between the past and the present. [They’re] themes and variations. I believe the tone could be a trigger or clue for the people to know the story more and what would happen.

KC: Are you familiar with the movie DAISIES?

YH: No. Does it have a Japanese name?

KC: Probably but I wouldn’t know it. It’s a Czech film from the 60’s. There’s a few sequences in your film with a typewriter and someone typing at it that recall a similar image in DAISIES. [In PARADISE NEXT], Shima and Makino are reminiscent of the two rebellious spirits that lead DAISIES. I thought there were interesting parallels between the to films.

YH: DAISIES [is the name]? I’m curious and will have to look into it.

KC: I wanted to talk some about the colors of the film. There’re segments with pastels that contrast its more serious tone but at the same time there’s deep reds and golds when overlooking the palace. How do you feel about this use of color and any symbolism it portrays?

YH: In Taiwan and Asian countries, color tone is different from the Western world. It’s a little unbalanced to compare the symmetry [between the two]. (…) The story starts in Taipei where the colors are from the neon, store signs, and the rest of the city. I wanted to use those vivid colors only the city could have. When the story moves (…) to the countryside, the color is still vivid but it comes from nature, the greens of the grass and the blues of the ocean. I wanted the colors to feel natural as the story moves.

KC: Shima is a serious and tough guy while Makino is jovial and emotional. Their lives are tied together through their past and through tragedy. They have different responses to this. How did you approach their juxtaposition to one another? 

YH: When I created the two characters,, I [thought about how] there are two ways to handle tragedy. One is to not [show] anything and internalize it. The second is to [overly] lie and cover it through [excessive] talking [or faked emotions]. That’s the baseline for the two characters but they both have the same goal which is to hide the fact that something bad happened.

KC: With both characters in the film coming from Japan to Taiwan, did you identify with them at all since you’re also from Japan but made the film in Taiwan?

YH: I tried to be as truthful as possible and collaborate with the Taiwanese culture. I tried to have the characters customize themselves to the Taiwanese culture; however, there is one song that plays during three different parts that is based on the music of the indigenous people in Taiwan. I saw it more as Taiwan itself watching over them. That’s the feeling that I wanted to create. The story can be a little vague but I wanted to create a mythical or folktale feeling as if that’s what’s being told and it acts as a trigger for motivations. 

KC: What’s next?

YH: I have many projects lines up for film composing, particularly Chinese films, but I’ve started thinking about my next film as a director and to create a challenge. When you go to see a movie, the theatre gets dark but then the light comes up and projected onto the screen. I want to create something that challenges if that light is needed. I’m trying to create something totally fundamental but it might not align with what film itself is. That’s my ambition. Since I’m a composer, I want to create something that orients the film [to the sound and the music]. I want to make them the main components but still have a strong story. I hope it is a new experience for the audience.

KC: Thank you so much for your time and good luck with the festival.

YH: Thank you very much.