EVENTI

NEWS.MYNAVI.JP: [Extract] 44th Hochi Film Awards

The awards ceremony of the 44th Hochi Film Award was held in Tokyo on the 18th with the winners of each award attending the ceremony.

The filmed which shined for the Special Award was the unexpected record-breaking hit, Tonde Saitama (Fly Me To The Saitama). Author of the original work, Maya Mineo, appeared with a bouquet of flowers, and gave a humour-filled congratulations, saying, “A Special Award. I don’t know where or what about it makes it special. The vagueness of this is very Tonde Saitama-like. Thank you for this.”

In addition, the audience burst out in laughter when lead actor GACKT revealed, “This time, when they first spoke to me about the role, I declined it in the very beginning.” With regards to playing the role of a high schooler, he had a wry smile on his face as he said, “I'm 46 this year. What the hell am I doing?” But despite that, looking back on it, he said, “I’m a big fan of Master Maya Mineo, and since he was the one who nominated me, I couldn’t say no. I acted
as a high school student while internally distressed.”

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Source: news.mynavi.jp

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by SaiKaiAngel

HOCHI.NEWS:【Hochi Film Awards】GACKT, "Tonde Saitama"s unknown story Plays a high school student when he's 46 this year "I declined in the beginning. What on earth are they saying?"

“Tonde Saitama (Fly Me To The Saitama)”, the comedy which joked about Saitama Prefecture citizens and created a social phenomenon. GACKT, acting as a representative, accepted the bronze idol of the Special Award which it won. “If this movie was a bento box, I’d think (of myself) as a good umeboshi. I took on the movie with that sort of feeling, but we could have never imagined that it would result.” At the beginning of the awards ceremony, the tense atmosphere of the venue grew relaxed.

Decorating the pure white rice, the “umeboshi in a bento”. Whether or not it is there makes a big difference. In this movie, he was starred in a double-lead role alongside Nikaido Fumi (25). “Rather than saying that I’m a lead actor, I’m more like a good supporting actor. My stance is (to focus on) bringing out a ‘good’ flavour. I thought that it would be great if I could promote the work itself from my part as a ‘side dish’, and I guess I fulfilled that role.” His actual occupation is being a singer. After film awards, an event he was unaccustomed to, concluded, a smile broke out on his face as if freed from his tension.

Set in a private-run high school, he played the role of a transfer student returning to Japan from America. Although he eventually readily took on the role because he was a fan of the original work’s author Maya Mineo, he “declined in the very beginning. What on earth are they saying? In the past, when I watched the movie Battle Royale (2000, 2001) and saw Yamamoto Taro playing a high school student when he was around 27, I thought, ‘What on earth is he doing?’. And now, even though I’m 46, I wonder, ‘What on earth am I doing?’”
Self-deprecating like in the movie, he made the audience laugh numerous times.

The movie itself was a challenge. Looking back on their teamwork, he said, “If we made one mistake, we could end up affecting a number of other areas. I believe that there were some of us wondered if we’d really turn Saitama into our enemy. But by the abilities of director Takeuchi Hideki, the many wonderful actors, and all the staff, this has become a truly wonderful piece of work.”

It was a challenge for him too. The movie was released in February and in April, he celebrated his 20th solo debut anniversary. “Until now, I’ve only ever played serious roles. And now I was invited to take part in such a comedy. In a way, I found a new challenge for myself. I guess I received a wonderful opportunity that will lead to more good things in the future.”
He had also won something for his own through the impetus of this movie.

Source: hochi.news

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by SaiKaiAngel