Two Seasons, Two Strangers (旅と日々)

"Scene 1 Summer, seaside"

"A car at a dead end."

"A woman wakes up in the back seat."

Huh?

My picture?

Go ahead.

Sorry it took so long.

"The young man feels uncomfortable and leaves the beach."

"Meanwhile, around that time.."

In the old days, men fished in small boats.

Wives and children saw the boats off, praying to the gods and Buddha

for the men's safety and a big catch, hoping for calm seas

and good weather.

Those who lost their husbands and fathers to the sea

were left in deep mourning,

but poverty and hard living didn't allow it.

After three years of bereavement,

they set a stone Buddha on a hill near the sea

and offered it water daily

along with flowers, spending their days praying for his soul.

Hello.

Hi.

Are you from around here?

No, a relative lives here.

When did you come?

Four days ago? Five?

Oh, then you must be bored to death.

You shouldn't come here alone.

But...

I didn't want to do anything for some reason.

Why?

How should I put it.

Never mind. Sorry.

I'm often told I talk too much.

Nice place, though.

I didn't know there was such a place.

Yes, I'm glad I came, too.

Feels so much better than I could have imagined in my apartment.

For real. I feel alive again.

Oh, you're right.

I wish this feeling would last forever.

Want one?

No, thank you.

My mother was born here.

I lived here for about a year long ago.

So it brings back memories?

It's kind of a scary story, do you mind?

Go ahead.

Long ago, beyond that cape,

a so-called "dozaemon" was caught in a fishing boat's net.

A what?

A dead body.

And when I went to the port to see it, it was white all over.

Its nostrils and mouth were full of algae.

A fisherman?

No, a woman. Holding a child.

That was terrifying.

The child was half skeletonized.

Octopuses nest right under that cape,

and they skeletonize corpses quickly when they swarm.

That's more of a sad story than a scary one.

True.

No matter what I do, nothing seems to go right.

I've never met anyone unluckier than me.

You think nobody is unhappier than you?

As far as I know.

Then have you ever cheated on someone?

What, all of a sudden?

It's just small talk.

Depends on how you define cheating.

I thought if I came to a place like this alone and sat around.

I'd stop caring about things and feel better.

You know what, my mother used to say

that boredom fosters imagination.

But I think that kind of mindset is wrong.

When people have too much free time, they think too much, and they get depressed.

Hmm, maybe.

So I thought about what we should do instead.

How about keeping ourselves so busy that we can't think about anything?

Being too busy makes you depressed, too.

Then what do you think?

Eat something tasty, maybe?

Or you could go on a trip like this and never return,

start over somewhere else, pretending to be another person.

Or you could be born again and become someone else entirely.

Don't take it so seriously.

I think you're fine the way you are.

Huh?

You don't have to be someone else.

You're lovely the way you are.

You're a nice guy.

Hey, you know what...

- You first. - Go ahead.

Do you know how far it is from here to that horizon?

Sorry, but I know the answer.

A little over 4 km.

Oh, so you knew.

But 4 km is hard to believe.

I guess it depends on your height.

That's just a margin of error.

One could swim 4 km to get there, don't you think?

You can swim?

Shall we go back?

Yes.

Going to the beach tomorrow?

Probably after lunch.

...shows that the typhoon has developed considerably.

Two runners cross the plate! 10-8, down by two runs!

Summer isn't over yet!

Want some dessert?

Oh, mitsumame?

Yeah.

Smells like the sea.

Oh, it's good.

My aunt is 60 now but she still dives in the ocean.

- She's an ama diver? - Yeah.

She sometimes picks tengusa seaweed to make agar gelatin.

Oh right, it comes from the sea.

Yeah, tengusa is boiled and then cooled until the agar sets.

Your bandage is gone.

I took it off.

How did you get hurt?

A sewing machine.

Sounds painful.

I think I'll swim a little

It's probably cold.

Yeah, but I'm going home tomorrow.

What, you're leaving already?

Do I look OK?

Yeah.

You're a good swimmer.

I was top level in junior high.

Did you see the fish?

What?

The fish.

Didn't see them at all.

You OK?

Your lips are so blue.

So are yours.

Want to get out?

No, not yet.

Where's the fish?

They went that way.

I saw them!

Can't hear you!

A lot of them!

One was this big!

Further out!

You look great.

Now let's resume.

OK. Well then, since the director and screenwriter are with us today,

I'd like to proceed mainly with the Q&A session as scheduled.

First, what did you think, Professor Uonuma?

It wasn't mentally challenging

but rather a film that stimulated your senses,

like you could feel it with your whole body

Maybe you could say it's very sexy.

There's something erotic about it,

a kind of sensual film, I thought.

I see. Thank you.

OK then, students. Who'll go first?

I study screenwriting.

There must be times when the film isn't like what you imagined in the script.

Please tell us how you felt when you first saw this film.

When I first saw it, um...

I thought that the scene in the rain must have been hard to shoot, and...

Well, uh...

And that I don't have much talent.

Go ahead.

Thank you for today.

I first heard it was a film about travel and thought it'd be upbeat.

But this film had pretty dark vibes,

and honestly, I didn't get it.

I'd like to know why you decided on this kind of content.

I come from a small island,

and didn't like my hometown. Felt like I didn't belong, so I moved to Tokyo..

At the director's request, I wrote a screenplay based on

Yoshiharu Tsuge's manga "Scenes from the Seaside. "

It's been a few years since I wrote it. but I'm still thinking about travel.

Feels like I've been on the road ever since I left my homeland.

I'm an aspiring director.

I thought it was a story about people not being able to understand each other,

so it hit me hard.

I've always wanted to shoot solitude in my films, too.

I'd like to ask the director for hints.

I don't think there's anyone who isn't lonely,

so I've never thought about shooting it.

I was thinking about the word "purity."

Are you writing something new now?

Yes, but it's not working out very well.

What's it about?

It's about ninjas.

That sounds difficult

Yes, in many ways.

How are you feeling lately?

A bit better.

That's good.

But I find it hard to concentrate on work.

Don't take it so seriously.

Take a trip for a change of scenery.