While the Women Are Sleeping
The Berlinale Press Conference with Director Wayne Wang and Cast.
Director Wayne Wang tackles a short story from Spanish Writer Javier Marias set in Japan. “It is a story about watching and being watched”, said Wang during the Berlinale Press Conference. My assistant director gave me the story, the story of women sleeping. It is about getting an author (Kenji) getting back his inspiration.
Translating the book to Asian sensibilities of subtlety and indirectness was important like the scene in the shop where the man speaks but never directly about the subject. Then adding Asian sensuality, we used little details, for example, the scene where he shaves the back of her neck, this is sensual in Japanese Culture. Even with these ingredients we had to remain true to the mystery of the narrative.
Wayne described shooting the film from the lead actor’s (Hidetoshi Nishijima) point of view. How he sees reality and the imagined reality. The audience is the 3rd person observing.
Special Note: This was the best dressed cast at the Berlinale wearing Berluti, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton.
While The Woman Are Sleeping stars Takeshi Kitano, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Sayuri Oyamada, and Shiori Kutsuna
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