Woman of the Photographs (2020) - full transcript

(footsteps)

ID PHOTOS READY IN 1 HOUR
RETOUCHING AVAILABLE

(front door opening)

It's so hot today.

I need retouching done
on this old man.

(copy machine wirring)

(keyboard typing)

(exhaling smoke)

(man continues
working on computer)

Hello.

I need a photo of myself
for a matchmaking meeting.



No problem. I am not in a rush.

Take my place.

(camera shutter)

(fast computer work noises)

A bit more please....

Yes, even more.

(computer typing)

Make my eyes bigger.

Sharpen the jawline.

Get rid of the neck lines.

Slim the waist.

Don't show me the original.

What?

Did I have a mole here?



Please remove it.

Can you make my lips glossier?

Yes, more...more...more...

It's a tough job.

[Old Man]
Whoa.

(old man laughing)

(children talking)

(sweet music)

(salutations)

(gust of wind)

(cheerful music)

(music speeds up)

PHOTO BOOK OF INSECTS

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE
1982 STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

(microwave dings)

(chewing)

(swishing water)

(spitting)

(gentle breeze)

(camera shutter)

(loud thud)

(tree branch breaking)

(gasping)

(soft groans)

[Woman] Oh!
Did I just fall off the tree?

(pained groan)

[Woman]
I must have slipped.

That's awful.

I'm hurt and bleeding now.

What should I do?

Should I go back to that place?

...I should.

(birds cawing)

[Woman]
I didn't get my photo.

Why did you follow me?

Thank you.

[Woman]
Can I ask you for a favor?

HOSPITAL

Don't stop. Keep going.
I don't have insurance anyway.

RAMEN

(woman sighs)

PHARMACY & DRUG STORE

(frogs croaking)

Ouch!

(labored breathing)

(sighing)

Hmm.

Is this a photo studio?

(camera shutter)

SCAR RETOUCHING

(heavy sigh)

(typing)

(photo retouching working)

(sounds getting more intense)

SHARE

[Kyoko]
Do you want to see my photos?

I upload a photo of myself
once a day.

So, it's titled "Today's Kyoko".

Look at this.

I am sponsored by a natural
foods company.

And before, I used to have
cosmetics and fashion sponsors.

Responses and texts come
from my followers every day.

Do you know what "follower"
means?

It's someone who views
and follows my photos.

How much is it
for the retouching?

Let me pay you.

Take this...

Well then,
if you won't let me pay,

let me at least treat you
to dinner.

It's fine.

Then let me pay you...

(car honking)

(car honking)

(car honking)

[Kyoko] This neighborhood
has everything.

Is there anything
you want to eat?

What do you feel like
eating tonight?

♪ Waltz of the Flowers by
Pyotr Tchaikovsky ♪

(music continues)

(music ends)

(clock tower chiming)

Hey, wait for me!

(piano jazz)

[Kyoko] Have you heard of
"The Nutcracker Suite"?

Story of a girl
who combats a rat.

At the end, the girl used a slipper
to beat the rat to death.

It was not a cute rat.

It was a dirty and mean one.

Like the ones you see running
around in a restaurant kitchen.

As big as this!

Have you ever seen one
this size?

Please! Not so loud here!

(jazz music continues)

(music ends)

[Kyoko] Shall we dance together
with the next music?

Here is a praying mantis.

Big eyes...

...Sharp jawline...

...Long limbs...

...If you look close,
it is so cute.

It looks like a ballerina.

Is this one female?

What is happening?

Why isn't the music
playing on time?

Smoking is not allowed here.

And no throwing away
cigarette butts here too.

But why isn't there
any music now?

The plaza is now closed.

(sighing)

[Kyoko] Can I stay at your place
tonight?

(crickets chirping)

(chewing)

Life has its ups and downs.
So let's enjoy them all! #Today's Kyoko

So beautiful Beauty!

You are always
so beautiful, Kyoko

(applause)

(ballet music)

I'm so happy. Please
continue to support me.

(applause and music
continue)

(applause and music
fade out)

(birds chirping)

(swishing water)

(spitting)

(toilet flushing)

Good morning.

Which is it, male or female?

Did you know that the males
will be eaten by the females?

Hello. Are you feeling alright?

(camera beeping)

(camera beeping)

It's so hot again today.

Why don't you help her a bit?

You don't have to sleep
in the same room, right?

Thank you.

How many years since this store
started business?

It's about 50 years.

His Dad started this store in order
to raise his son all by himself.

Photography has changed
so much since then.

At one time, photos were true
and could not hide any defects.

But nowadays, everything can be
fixed and touched up instantly.

(typing)

Were the old ways better?

Not really.

After all,
it is more convenient now.

And a good lie can make
people happy.

His mother passed away
when she gave birth to him.

Since then, he has had no chance
to meet any woman at all in his life.

(sighing)

Please.

(typing)

Would you want to marry
this woman?

Don't stop, please continue.

(continues working)

But you will become
a different person...

You are a woman,
you should know.

Myself in the photograph gives
a stronger impression than the real me.

Even if a man thinks I am different
from my photo when we first meet,

the man may make my true self
closer to my image in my photo.

But that is just the man losing
his mind in physical desire for you...

I don't mind that at all.

I believe that myself reflected
in the eyes of others is my true self.

If he thinks I am beautiful, I feel it,
and I am delighted and happy.

Please continue to retouch me.

My photo is going to become
my real self.

No! It is the opposite.

Reflect yourself in the photos.

Both are the same anyway.

Because we can love ourselves
only through others' eyes.

(camera shutter)

(scratching)

(erasing with pen)
(scratching nervously)

(erasing with pen)
(scratching nervously)

(wincing in pain)

Which is my true self?

(water running)

(water splashing)

What?

[company woman] Kyoko san, after long
and careful deliberation at our company,

we have decided to terminate
our sponsorship contract with you.

We sincerely appreciate
and thank you for

promoting our products
for such a long time.

But why now?

It is because the number of your
followers has decreased substantially...

compared to the heydays but this
unfortunately often happens.

As time goes on,
this gap will only get wider.

[Kyoko]
The gap?

- The gap between you,
the real Kyoko-san, and

the Kyoko-san that
the followers are looking for.

In order to keep attracting
more followers, you

have to be someone
that they want you to be.

(upbeat music)

Hey! I was invited to dinner
at your place.

I decided to have dinner all
three of us tonight together.

Let's eat.

- How does it taste?
- It's delicious.

Do you cook?

Not much.

Why?

I'm not a good cook,

besides, it's cheaper to eat out
than cook for only one person.

Have you been single
like this all this time?

(dissenting grunt)

Wife?

Yes.

What was she like?

She was an honest,
sincere person.

Do you have a child?

Let's change the topic.

But I want to know.

Do you really want to know?

(grunting in agreement)

My daughter was shy and gentle.

But she passed away
when she was only 7 years old.

She died in a traffic accident
on the way to school.

After that, my wife and I did not have
much to talk about anymore.

It became difficult for us
just to be together.

Well, since then,
I became single.

Is it possible to make up
with her?

She soon remarried and had
another child.

It is better for us
not to meet anymore.

- Don't you get lonely?

Not really.

You know, it's been
over 20 years now.

And I get drunk and sleep
before I feel lonely.

(laughing)

(grunting for acknowledgment)

(crickets chirping)

(chewing)

Which is my true self?

(Kyoko heavy sighing)

(swiping on phone)

(ballet music)
(crowd applause)

(crowd applause fade out)

(music continues)

(crowd applause)

You came to see me again today.

(music and applause fade out)

(crickets chirping)

(typing)

(working on computer)

(frightened gasp)

(nature sounds)

(camera shutter)

Please continue
to retouch my picture.

Myself in the photo will
become the true me.

Myself in the photograph gives

a stronger impression
than the real me.

If he thinks I am
beautiful, I feel it,

and I am delighted and happy.

We're two of a kind.

We can only love
ourselves through others.

(pen falls)

(chewing)

Return it to my true self.

This is the true me.

(crowd applause)

This is different from before.
What happened?

OMG! gross!
Cool!

Still a beautiful body.

(ballet music)

You are brave. You gave me courage.
This is true beauty.

(applause continue)

(applause fade out)

I'd like to ask you
a personal request.

You can make a woman younger
in her photos, right?

But can you make
a young girl age grow up?

(chuckling)

Can you do this for me
with the girl in this photo?

(scanner working)

(typing and working)

Thank you.

(sweet somber music)

(camera shutter)

(camera shutter)

(rapid picture taking)

(chuckling)

(music fades out)

(chewing)

(crowd applause)

(ballet music)

I am happy for you.

They are telling you that the real you
is so much more beautiful.

But what will you do
when the wound heals?

Let's always stay beautiful.

Does it hurt?

No, it does not.

(thunder)

Thank you.

Now I can relax.

It's been such a long time
since I last got a photo of myself taken.

See you again.

(camera shutter)

(camera shutter)

(camera shutter)

[Kyoko]
Hi. Welcome home.

It does not want to eat at all.

(heavy sigh)

(chewing)

(soft moans)

(zipper opening)

(crickets chirping)

Your posts go against
the community moral guidelines.

(intense clapping
and drum music)

Your posts have been
removed as portraying

inappropriate graphic
images of self-injury

What are you doing?
It's so obscene.

I feel sorry for you.

You got obsessed and couldn't
see anything else around you.

You didn't notice until
your wounds got worse.

You are such a stupid girl.

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

Who are you really?

Who, who, who...

What are you doing?

You can no longer be real
or fake.

You won't be seen or be loved
by anyone anymore.

You no longer exist.

You got drowned in yourself
and vanished.

Won't someone tell me who I am?

Tell me, tell me, tell me...

(repeating over and over again)

(continues to repeat
"tell me" faster)

(squelching)

(camera turning on)

(camera shutter)

Thanks to the retouched
photograph,

I was able to encounter
a wonderful man.

He is a doctor...

...of plastic surgery.

Now you can erase all my data
completely.

(nurse laughing)

(IV drip sound echoing loudly)

(loud chewing)

(chewing)

It will be eaten. Poor thing.

(chewing)

Don't feel sorry for it.

Only males who are eaten by females
can experience this deepest of ecstasies...

...in knowing that its existence
is given meaning...

...only when it offers its body so that
the female can continue in life and creation.

(chewing)

♪ Waltz of the Flowers by
Pyotr Tchaikovsky ♪

WOMAN OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

(music continues)

(chewing)

(music ends)

KAI / Hideki NAGAI

KYOKO / Itsuki OTAKI

SAIJO / Toshiaki INOMATA

HISAKO / Toki KOINUMA

Written and Directed by
Takeshi KUSHIDA

Produced by
Shin NISHIMURA and Yousuke SATO

First Assistant Director
Tomoko TAKAHASHI

Director of Photography
Yu OISHI

Lighting Director
Takuma SAEKI

Production Design
Shunsuke OKUTANI

Costume Design
Masae SAKURAI

Special Makeup
Yoshihiro NISHIMURA

Casting by Tatsuya NAKANO
and Mana MOCHIZUKI

Editor
Atsushi Gaudi YAMAMOTO

Sound Design
Masahiro YUI

Music Producer Hitoshi FUSHIMI
Music by Shigehiko SAITO

Retoucher Takako KAGAWA
Insect Guidance Hiroshi WATANABE

Cooperation
Hiroshi TAKEMOTO [Studio AI]

Medical Cooperation
TERUMO CORPORATION