Joseph (from left), Xie Yingxuan, director SABU, Ethan Ethan, and Daisuke Tsukahara attended the official press conference of "The Forgotten Detective" in Venice. (Provided by Yilonghubao International Entertainment Co., Ltd.)
[Reporter Xu Shiying/Comprehensive Report] "The Forgotten Detective" directed by Japanese director SABU and starring Ethan Ruan and Xie Yingxuan was selected as a non-competition film in the official section of the 83rd Venice Film Festival. It premiered and screened locally yesterday (7th) The show was a hard-to-get ticket, and the venue was packed. After the movie ended, it received a standing ovation from the audience for nearly 8 minutes. Director SABU and the starring actors Ethan Ruan, Xie Yingxuan, Daisuke Tsukahara, and Joseph bowed multiple times and hugged each other. The scene was touching.
The red carpet premiere was held at 9 o'clock that night. SABU, producer Huang Jiangfeng, producer Wang Sijing, and Naozo Ichiyama of "The Three Evils", led by Ethan Ruan, Xie Yingxuan, Daisuke Tsukahara, and Joseph made their appearance and immediately became the focus of the scene. Hundreds of fans gathered outside the venue to watch and snap photos, and the atmosphere was quite warm.
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Ethan Ruan plays a major role in "The Forgotten Detective", and there are a lot of action scenes in the film. (Provided by Yilonghubao International Entertainment Co., Ltd.)
After entering the theater, the full audience laughed and clapped along with the plot. Even Marco Müller, the former chairman of the Venice Film Festival, came specially to watch the film, making the premiere highly anticipated. There was constant laughter and applause at the premiere. Many international media praised SABU after the screening for the humorous scenes in the film, calling them unforgettable. The director happily responded: "It's so good, so happy!"
Ethan Ruan, who plays the leading role in the film, not only has a lot of action scenes, but also has to interpret the state of the gradual fragmentation of memory. He revealed that before filming the movie, he had experienced losing an important person in his life, so he was particularly touched by the "loss" of his character. "When I saw my character losing his memory, I could also feel that feeling. It reminded me of my grandfather's experience of losing his memory." He also further realized that the most uncomfortable thing may not be just losing, but "I didn't know that I was losing something so important."
It was his first time to collaborate with Japanese director SABU. Ethan Ruan was originally worried that different languages would cause communication barriers. Unexpectedly, the two quickly developed a unique understanding. He laughed and said that he was quite nervous on the first day of filming because he had heard from a director friend that communication between actors and directors is very important. But after actually working together, he discovered: "When I first met him, I felt that there seemed to be some kind of tacit understanding between us."
Ethan Ruan also shared that the two have a "tacit understanding". As long as he sees SABU standing behind the camera and smiling, he knows that his performance should be fine. "So there is a lot of tacit understanding and communication between us. Sometimes if my performance is not good enough, I believe the director will tell me."
Directors SABU (left) and Ethan Ethan were chatting and laughing at the official press conference of "The Forgotten Detective" at the Venice Film Festival. (Provided by Yilonghubao International Entertainment Co., Ltd.)
Regarding the first time he watched the entire "The Forgotten Detective" on the big screen at the Venice Film Festival, Ethan Ethan also echoed the plot setting of the movie, humorously saying that he "forgot", and then laughed and said, "I really enjoyed watching everyone's performances in the cinema." In the past, he would often focus on observing his own performance when watching movies, but this time it was completely different. "I didn't expect that the parts that were very serious in the filming turned out to be ridiculous. When I was about to laugh, I turned around and stopped when I saw the serious face of director SABU."
SABU also talked about cross-language cooperation at the official press conference before the premiere. He said that although the crew members communicate in different languages, as long as one of them laughs, the others will laugh too. Even if they don't understand each other's language, they can roughly understand what the other person wants to express, so the language barrier is not as difficult as imagined.
Xie Yingxuan attended the official press conference of "The Forgotten Detective" at the Venice Film Festival. (Provided by Yilonghubao International Entertainment Co., Ltd.)
Xie Yingxuan believes that SABU is a director who works very accurately. Detailed storyboard planning has been completed before shooting, allowing the actors to quickly grasp the direction. "Because he works with several professional actors, we can discuss our performance with the director on site in a very short period of time, or discuss the direction he wants us to present."
Joseph, who is starring in a film for the first time, shared his experience of cross-border cooperation: "I feel that we all share a common humanity and emotions, so we work very well together." "The Forgotten Detective" will be released in Taiwan in March 2027.
