May 3rd, 2022 
Jackson Murphy 
Pompo The Cinephile is about young film fanatic and assistant, Gene, who gets the opportunity of a lifetime in Nyallywood when his boss, famed B-movie producer Pompo, selects him to direct a new movie she has written. Pompo’s film is a drama headlined by Martin Braddock, one of the most acclaimed male actors in the biz, and Natalie, an aspiring actress in her first major role. Pompo The Cinephile screened in theaters nationwide last week through Fathom Events and is currently playing in select cinemas across the country. GKIDS has also announced that this brilliant anime feature will be available on Digital June 28th and Blu-Ray/DVD July 12th. In this Animation Scoop Email Q&A, Director Takayuki Hirao describes all that went into making this extraordinary love letter to the movie business. (This interview was translated to English and edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: This is the best movie I’ve seen so far this year. I love the line “Welcome to the world of dreams and madness!” Is that how you’ve always thought of the film industry?
Takayuki Hirao: Thank you very much! I’m glad to hear that. Well… there are two meanings in this line. First, making people’s dreams come true or making your own dreams come true is not an easy thing to do, and not just in films and the industry. In order to succeed in this, it is necessary to have nearly insane amounts of obsession and power. Sometimes you have to throw away or lose something important to you along the way. This is extremely difficult. The meaning of this line is, first, if you want to accomplish something you will need to have both a dream and madness. You won’t be able to stand at the starting line unless you possess those and have mentally prepared yourself. Pompo the Cinephile is a fun and happy movie, but I also wanted to communicate the difficulty of actually making dreams come true.
Takayuki Hirao: Second, the film’s proposition. Making an animated film starts with drawing pictures that do not move on their own, but are able to appear to move by drawing countless of them. This is already a crazy, fantastical thing. The people I met since I started working in the film industry were the kind of people who were so devoted to what they did that they didn’t care about the luxury of normal everyday lives or vacations. And it looked like they were even enjoying themselves! That to me was exactly the world of dreams and madness. Well then, why are they so devoted? What is it that motivates them? The origin of their creativity and dreams… The journey to search inside one’s self for one’s roots was one of the important themes of the film. This line was to explore this topic and use it to drive a wedge into the story.
JM: Pompo and Gene are such dynamic, layered characters. What were your goals with them and their relationship?
TH: In the beginning, Pompo and Gene are like master and apprentice. That is the starting point of both the original comic and the film. I wanted to portray why they have such a passion for movies and film making, and how their own understanding of this allows them to grow as characters. In the second half of the film, Gene disobeys Pompo and starts walking his own path. Do not let other people handle your dreams, communicate what you have to say yourself. That is what challenged Gene to become a film director. And Gene then delivers a film that exceeds Pompo’s expectations. Pompo was deeply touched by Gene’s film and she regained the passion for film that she once had. They both were able to revisit the root of their dreams that they had forgotten. That was because I wanted to get across that the key is to not give up on your dreams.
JM: I love that there are three sections: filming the movie, editing the movie and financing the movie. Why was it important to emphasize all three aspects of the filmmaking process?
TH: When making a film a large number of people are involved in the process and there are many different sections as well. The reason why I specifically wanted to spotlight those three parts was because they are the most symbolic parts of moviemaking, in my opinion. Filming is a group effort. Everyone must have a mutual understanding and work together towards the same goal. Trouble happens sometimes and at those times, we can be forced to change directions. It is fun but it definitely requires the ability to communicate. On the other hand, editing is solitary work. Take a group effort and put it together into one final piece, cutting any excess. The editor needs to be able to make good decisions under extreme pressure. And most importantly, the final product has to make the audience happy. Financing the movie isn’t only about dreams or passion, it is the side of filmmaking that requires you to be the most realistic. However, without facing this reality, movies would never be created. The point is, moviemaking is an all-encompassing art. It is personal for everyone involved, and at the same time, it is made to be shared with an audience. That thinking can be applied to many other jobs in different ways as well. I thought the audience would be able to relate to this by showing both the fun and the difficulties of the process.
JM: Cinema Paradiso is an amazing movie and my father’s all-time favorite film. What do you think of Cinema Paradiso, and why did you want to include it in Pompo the Cinephile?
TH: Oh really? That’s cool. I can talk about this forever. I wonder how I should put it. I’ll try to keep it simple. This was depicted in the original [Pompo] manga. The movie Cinema Paradiso was used as a symbol of long movies and Pompo did not like long movies. The relationship between Toto, Alfredo and Elena and their story is deeply connected to Gene and Pompo and their story. For example, Gene is having a hard time fitting into society and movies are the only thing that’s keeping him connected to reality. They view movies as a window to society for Toto and the village, which they use to step into the outside world. It is also linked to the part where Gene is trying to become a film director. In the original version of Cinema Paradiso, there’s a part where he says he would not have become a filmmaker if he had been happy in his life. I think that also crosses over with Gene and d’Albert [the character Martin Braddock plays in Pompo’s film]. There are other connections too but overall, Cinema Paradiso is an amazing film that teaches us love and passion for movies… the meaning of life including what you’ve gained and lost… I intended on putting that kind of respect into Pompo as well.
JM: The dialogue is often very funny, but there are also incredibly moving scenes about the love of movies and having older people give younger people a chance to do great work.
TH: I was given a lot of chances from my seniors in the industry. I also received a lot of advice and was able to see different perspectives for looking at films. I treasure all of what they gave me. And before I knew it, while making many animations, time had gone by and now I’m older and have had a career. Now I realized it’s my turn to pass the things I’ve learned along to the next generation. I would like to think my thoughts like this are living in the film.
JM: How challenging was it to edit Pompo the Cinephile? Tsuyoshi Imai did an amazing job.
TH: I have worked with Mr. Imai many times but each time he surprises me with his amazing skills and how he works with time. I don’t think there are a lot of people who edit both animated films and live-action films. This background was really put to work perfectly for this particular film. I’m very honored to work together with a person who has won the best editing at the Japanese Academy Awards many times. It still seems crazy to me. Mr. Imai can solve problems I’ve been grappling with like magic. Still, this particular film editing was tough. None of us had the experience of making a film fit perfectly into only ninety minutes in our careers, and had never had such a challenge. We were just like Gene in the film, holding our heads in our hands, struggling. (laughs)
JM: Do you prefer shorter movies?
TH: I thought ninety minutes for Pompo the Cinephile was the right choice. I thought it was the right length. However, I think every story has its own amount of time it should take to be told. Two hours is good for some movies and four hours is perfect for others. I don’t necessarily think shorter movies are better. In fact, when I watch a movie I really don’t care about the duration. However, when I make a movie I aim to keep it under one hundred minutes if possible. It just happens naturally in the scenario writing process. Anything longer than that seems to bore the audience, and I feel that it becomes excessive. For me, less than one hundred minutes feels just perfect. At least for right now. (laughs)
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