If film ideas can come from anywhere, they most often remain literary and there are countless books brought to the screen. Rarer are the works which germinate from a musical idea. However, this is the case regarding Evil does not existlatest delivery by Japanese prodigy Ryusuke Hamaguchi, in response to a request from its composer, Eiko Ishibashi, who had signed the soundtrack of Drive My Car (2021). A prominent figure on the Japanese independent scene, sponsored by the pope of underground rock Jim O’Rourke (Sonic Youth, Gastr del Sol), this multi-instrumentalist (piano, drums, flute, vocals) plays experimental pop with long fiery flows , peppered with jazz accents and “concrete” touches. Interviewed by videoconference, she returns to the origins of the film.
How was the idea for the film “There is No Evil” born?
Lately I’ve started touring abroad a lot. My international film director asked me about the possibility of dressing up my performance with images. I thought about it, not really knowing where to go. At festivals, we often see groups accompanied by somewhat abstract images in the background. I wanted something else. For the promotion of Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi and I participated in a cross-interview, in public. On this occasion, we discussed the work of Jean-Luc Godard, whom I admire, about whom I claimed that a musician like me could be jealous, as his way of touring was immediately “musical”. Mr. Hamaguchi agreed. We shared, through Godard, more than a common reference: the concern for an equitable sharing between image and music. So I knew I could contact him.
How did working with Ryusuke Hamaguchi go?
At the time, I was very interested in the memory of vanished lands and was preparing an album on this theme. For his part, Hamaguchi worked around the question of waste treatment, based on a piece by Fassbinder, Garbage, the city and death [1975]. He was going to visit waste sorting or elimination stations. I suggested he visit me in the studio. He attended a recording session, which he filmed, and then suggested that I dress it up with a montage of archives or extracts from old films. I told him no. I preferred that he do what he usually did: write a story, characters, situations. He came to scout in the region, near Kobuchizawa, two hours from Tokyo.
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