“Live more of your life.”
That’s what the French often say when critiquing other people’s films.
Around the end of the 90s, a Japanese film director sought advice from a French director he admired.
“Yeah, it was good. But you should live your own life more. Then you’ll make even better films.”
Taking those words from his idol as praise, the late-blooming director was overjoyed, practically jumping for joy.
Since then, I’ve seen French filmmakers make similar comments about Japanese films or directors on several occasions.
In a mockumentary program, a French scholar of Japanese cinema made remarks that echoed this sentiment exactly:
“I think film is about learning by living your life, not by studying in school, if you want to become a good director, that is.”
Looking back on my own youth, I also was immersed in my own thoughts and the narrow world I knew, with no room to look around.
What about the staff working in the film industry today? They dive into the industry in their late teens or early twenties, working like slaves day and night, with no time to experience life, no time to absorb input, and lacking the knowledge or experience to produce output…
Without knowledge or life experience, people simply can’t write a script; even if they start writing, they hit a wall immediately…
Unlike Americans, the French don’t speak directly, so it’s hard to tell whether their words are meant as praise or gentle criticism. Not grasping their meaning is proof of a lack of life experience.
Incidentally, even looking at French films in past few decades, the characters barely move, just chattering away, running rampant. I certainly don’t want to be told that by French. But I also understand perfectly well the urge to tell Japanese cinema—which endlessly churns out adaptations of best-selling novels and manga, stories of junior high and high school youth, and convenient plots about terminal illnesses—to “live life more fully.”
When asked for advice for aspiring filmmakers, a certain famous Japanese director responded, “Well, it’s not really advice… but it’s good to know all sorts of things… If we’re talking about food, you can’t be a film director without knowing everything from standing soba noodle shops to high-end sushi restaurants.” Using different phrasing than the French, he was essentially saying the same thing “You should live life more fully.”