Magnifying manga

Two Seasons, Two Strangers. Shô Miyake: 'Including summer and winter at the same time in the same movie, you get a different kind of sensation' Photo: Two Seasons, Two Strangers Production committee

Shô Miyake on the set of Two Seasons, Two Strangers Photo: Two Seasons, Two Strangers Production committee

Shô Miyake’s Two Seasons, Two Strangers adapts two mangas by Yoshirharu Tsuge into a diptych connected by a screenwriter (Shim Eun-kyung), who we see writing the first part of the film – about two young people, Natsuo (Mansaku Takada) and Nagisa (Yuumi Kawai), who form a brief connection during summer. In the second half of the film – bridged by a Q&A session that film festivalgoers will find particularly playful – the writer becomes part of the narrative herself. She goes on a snowy trip to a mountain village where she also forges an unexpected bond with the older, solitary innkeeper (Shinichi Tsutsumi) where she is staying.

The film had its premiere at Locarno Film Festival, where it went on to win the festival’s top prized Golden Leopard.

The win marks another step up for Miyake, whose films have slowly been rising in prominence since his debut Playback was at the festival back in 2012. In the years that have followed, his films, including And Your Bird Can Sing, have continued to enjoy festival play until his offbeat film about a Deaf boxer, Small, Slow But Steady made arthouse waves after playing in Berlin in 2022.

Two Seasons, Two Strangers. Shô Miyake: 'Including summer and winter at the same time in the same movie, you get a different kind of sensation' Photo: Two Seasons, Two Strangers Production committee

Speaking at a press conference during Locarno about the cult manga works from which the film is adapted – A View Of The Seaside and Mr Ben And His Igloo, by Yoshiharu Tsuge , which date from 1967 and 1967 – it’s clear that balance was in the director’s mind, something that is important right through a film that rests lightly on ideas of doubling and reflection.

“First of all, including summer and winter at the same time in the same movie, you get a different kind of sensation, it's to give a new experience in the cinema and watching the film, you actually feel the change in weather conditions and change of climate,” says Miyake. “The manga written by Yoshiharu Tsuge is a very pure form of manga, let's say, because it doesn't stick to the traditional form of manga, but it has the artistic aspect of manga. So, I really liked it and just doing the same thing, not just copying the manga content itself, but adding a pure form of cinema into this product.”

Tsuge, who stopped writing manga in the Seventies, is now 88 and wasn’t involved with the making of the film, although Miyake says he spoke to Tsuge's son about the film. In terms of the adaptation, it was the actor that caught the director’s eye to begin with.

The first part of Two Seasons, Two Strangers unfolds in summer Photo: Two Seasons, Two Strangers Production committee

“I wanted to work with Shim Eun-kyung and then I thought of which film could be good for her,” he says, when asked why he decided to make the main character Korean.

He adds: “I think making her the main character of the movie gave more meaning to it because she's a foreigner walking in my country and, through foreigners, to depict scenes of my country was somewhat meaningful. Also taking in a scene through a foreigner's eye is somewhat similar to filmmaking because through the camera, I'm taking in the real world so these were some similarities I found. But that is something I thought of afterwards. I purely think she’s a great actor and I hope you all enjoy her acting.”

When it comes to the male characters in the film, balance was also a key factor.

Two Seasons, Two Strangers poster

“One is younger and one is older and both have some difficulties in life. One is more tangible, let's say, because it’s how to live his life because he doesn't have money, and the other one more of an internal difficulty questioning the meaning of existence and his own life itself. So two difficulties, two different characters. Usually we tend to hide our difficulties in life but they are somewhat direct and honest with themselves and they show it, either unintentionally or intentionally. So we see it because they’re straight and honest with their difficulties.”

Speaking about the measured pace and tone of the film, some have said it reminds them of the work of Drive My Car director Ryuske Hamaguchi and it turns out that the pair of them are pals.

“Of course, I am influenced by Ryuske Hamaguchi,” says Miyake. “We live in the same period of time and we are in the same country. He's a good friend of mine and I don't have so many friends. We have a study group together to study classic movies but our approach to filmmaking is different, the style is different. But we both have this notion of understanding the intrinsic power of filmmaking and then making it into a movie. Not ignoring movie history, of course, but taking account of movie history and then infusing it with our ideas to make it into a film.

The film is continuing its festival run this autumn and will play in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section of San Sebastian Film Festival later this month.