Taiwan's same-sex marriage and songs are all part of the drama! "When the Wind Blows to Nagi-cho" Cannes Broadcasting is a hot topic

The new film "When the Wind Blows to Nagicho", which was selected as the main competition film for the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, was written and directed by the famous Japanese director Koji Fukada. After nine years of preparation, the film is set in Nagi Town, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Through the encounter of two female artists, it delicately depicts emotions, history and gender identity, and also incorporates Taiwanese folk songs and same-sex marriage issues. It has been praised by the international film media as Koji Fukada's most outstanding work to date. At the invitation of the Golden Horse Executive Committee, Koji Fukada will arrive in Taiwan this Saturday (14th) to attend a post-screening discussion and attend a press conference on Sunday.

"When the Wind Blows to Nagi Town" brings together powerful actors such as Matsu Takako, Shizugawa Ishibashi, and Kenichi Matsuyama to perform. It is inspired by the award-winning stage play "Tokyo Notes" by Japanese playwright Orisa Hirata. Koji Fukada moved the original setting from Tokyo to Nagi Town, Okayama Prefecture, and intertwined a seemingly ordinary story with hidden life scars through the contemporary art museum and pastoral scenery built on the mountain. The plot describes Yuri (Shizugawa Ishibashi), an architect active in both Tokyo and Taiwan, taking advantage of his vacation to visit his ex-husband's sister, sculptor Yoshiko (Takako Matsu), and serve as his sculpture model. While the two were getting along, they also interacted with Yoshiko's childhood sweetheart Yoshihiro (played by Kenichi Matsuyama), and a pair of high school students Haruki and Keita who were just starting to have same-sex feelings. The seemingly ordinary encounters gradually revealed the past that everyone deliberately avoided.

In the film, Takako Matsu plays a sculptor who is open-minded on the outside but harbors a deep longing for her deceased relatives in her heart. Shizugawa Ishibashi plays a woman who has just experienced the breakdown of her marriage and is lost in confusion. Especially the scene where the two play against each other in the sculpting studio late at night allows the characters to gradually let go of their guard and find the possibility of healing for each other. After watching the movie, the famous Japanese director Hamaguchi Ryusuke was also deeply impressed by Shizuka Ishibashi's performance, saying bluntly: "It still resonates in my ears to this day!"

In addition to the emotional flow between women, Koji Fukada also extends his lens to broader social issues. The Nagi Town in the movie seems to be far away from the hustle and bustle, but it is not truly isolated from the world. Amidst the buzzing of insects and wind, the occasional rumble of artillery fire echoes the Russo-Ukrainian war on TV news. The discussion of the younger generation on gender diversity, self-identity and marriage equality in the film also brings out different thinking about the same-sex marriage system in Japanese society. The story is also connected to Taiwan through the character's longing for Taiwan's same-sex marriage policy.

Koji Fukada also has a deep understanding of Taiwanese culture. He specially arranged the Taiwanese folk song "It's Dark" in the movie and invited singer-songwriter Zheng Yinong to sing the theme song "Blooming on the Road". The original Japanese lyrics of the song were written by Koji Fukada himself, and then rewritten into Taiwanese by the hit song king Hsieh Ming-yu. The soundtrack was composed by Pei Pei, making Taiwanese music an important part of the film's emotions. Zheng Yinong's gentle and tenacious voice echoes the two heroines' journey of finding an exit in the trough of life, and also conveys the vitality that even in an invisible corner, there is still a chance to bloom.

"When the Wind Blows to Nagi Town" has been sold out at the Golden Horse Film Festival and will be released in Taiwan on December 4.