What does it take to dehumanize someone? According to Yusuke Iwasaki, a convenience store uniform and a morning assembly ritual will suffice. That unsettling observation forms the basis of “AnyMart,” his debut feature on the Berlinale Forum, which carries the weight of personal experience. Mr. Iwasaki’s son said that his father, who was the owner of a liquor store in a bustling town, became an “inorganic, impersonal” person after he took over the convenience store.
Sakai, a convenience store clerk played by Shota Sometani, shows up for work, reciting the employee oath and restocking shelves, but feels nothing — until a new employee, Ogawa (Erika Karata), arrives as one of several unusual events that bring standardized store operations to a bloody conclusion.
The film, which combines Aki Kaurismäki-esque deadpan with the slow-burning horror of Seifu Kurosawa, is a follow-up to Iwasaki’s short story “Void”, which was entered in the 2024 Rotterdam International Film Festival Tiger Competition and included in the anthology chiller NN4444. This anthology chiller “NN4444” is the first title from Nothing New, a start-up company led by Kentaro Hayashi, executive producer and producer of “AnyMart,” who also serves as executive producer of “AnyMart” and is in charge of overseas sales starting with EFM. Masahiko Nishimura also stars. Produced by Tohoku Shinska Eiga Co., Ltd.
Variety spoke to Iwasaki ahead of the world premiere as follows:
This film captures the absurdity of working in retail in an admirably incisive way. It is a place occupied by workers, alternating between small spaces and vacant lots. Ritual tasks they are forced to complete. and the rules and regulations they must strictly follow. Are you drawing on your personal experience working in retail?
Yusuke Iwasaki: My father owned a convenience store, so while convenience stores were a very familiar presence to me, they also seemed somewhat suspicious to me. When I visited his workplace as a child, there were many adults who followed strict rules. Even if you talk to them normally, by putting on the uniform and going through the ritual of morning assembly, any person’s individuality will be stripped away and they will become part of the store. I thought it was interesting. My father was no exception to this rule. He used to be a cheerful and friendly owner of a liquor store in town, but after he started running a convenience store, he seemed to have changed into a somewhat inorganic and inhuman person, although not as much as the store owner in this movie. Witnessing this change was my original experience, and I decided to create a piece using convenience stores as a motif. By the way, if I were working part-time in retail, I would go crazy within a few days because I wouldn’t be able to endure the strict rules.
Convenience stores exist everywhere, as if they have been duplicated. they are open anytime. And they always work fine. It’s unique, and I think it has an eerie quality that is unique to Japan. Most of all, what struck me was the contrast between the overabundance of information and brightness in the store, and the extreme lack of human spirit. Employees and customers exchange many words, but none of them are emotional and are inorganic. Both the people who come to shop and the people who work there have ceased to be human beings.
With this film, were you trying to talk about the universal experience of working in a retail space, or were you trying to talk specifically about the experience of being inside a convenience store?
My father owned a convenience store, so I specifically wanted to tell a story about a convenience store. There is another story that I experienced as a consumer. One day, while I was busy with work, I casually walked into a convenience store to buy some snacks, picked up a chicken salad, and was horrified to find myself devouring it with no expression on my face. I didn’t really want to eat chicken salad. I casually picked it up because it was there and because it was efficient. I became worried that efficiency, convenience, and systems were controlling me more than I thought, so I decided to make a film about this lack of feeling of being alive.
At the heart of this film is the push and pull between the individual and the collective. What is considered morally right and socially “right”? In this sense, this film and its setting are clearly a microcosm of Japan. Can you talk about mapping these ideas to this setting and these characters?
It’s easy to live according to society’s rules and systems, but it’s a never-ending living hell. If the store owner is the embodiment of a system that has almost killed all emotions, then Ogawa, who lives by morality and his own sense of justice, is the opposite. However, deviants like Ogawa, the owner of the quiche shop, and the transvestite men who visit the shop are not respected in modern Japan, and must either follow the system or perish. It’s very painful, but it’s true, so I reflected that in their fate in the movie.
And the main character, Sakai (“Sakai” means “boundary”), does not fit into either of these positions, he simply exists. Rather than struggle between two positions, he simply observes a piece of meat: a cold chicken salad. I think many modern Japanese people, myself included, are like Sakai.
Shota Sometani’s trademark is an indifferent and blank expression, and his distinctive features suit this movie well. This starts out as a fairly typical performance of his, but you allow him to grow it into something more emotionally rich and nuanced. Did you consider other actors for the role of Sakai, or did you decide on Mr. Someya?
I’ve always loved Sometani as an actor, and the first thing that came to mind was Sometani. Sakai is a difficult role. He is more of an observer than a protagonist. He rarely takes any action, and only needs to express his emotions through subtle facial expressions. With his eloquent expressiveness, nihilistic demeanor, and explosive emotional power, I am confident that there is no one other than Mr. Someya who can play Sakai.
The film’s tricky tonal balance is impressive, moving from satirical comedy to psychological horror with weight and impact. Can you elaborate on that balance and the use of quick cuts for disturbing images?
Initially, I intended to make a more consistently evil horror film. However, I wanted to depict the reality of the convenience store more vividly, and I wanted to depict Sakai’s inner life in more detail. As a result, the number of comedic scenes naturally increased, resulting in a unique fusion of comedy and horror. The disturbing images that increase in the second half of the film represent the blurring of the boundaries between life and death. There were a lot of remnants of the horror story that I had originally envisioned, and I thought it was interesting, so I kept it. Originally, the story was supposed to feature more ghosts, but the real-world system presented in this movie was enough to be a horror story.
There was clearly a strong emphasis on sound design in this film.
In this film, the line between what should be funny and what should be scary is blurred, so the sound design played an important role in making this clear. Since it’s not a typical horror movie story, we incorporated a dark digital atmosphere that you don’t often hear in movies. Pas Tasta, who was in charge of the score, is a wonderful music group made up of people with various musical backgrounds. I’d like you to listen to it.
Does your daily life on set sometimes fall into a pattern similar to that of a movie workplace, or is filmmaking a workplace where you feel you can escape that monotonous drudgery?
In my normal work as a commercial director, I only receive interesting and exciting projects so that I don’t get stuck in a rut. So far it’s exciting and fun, but when I’m writing storyboards at night, there are definitely moments when I think, “Oh, this is going to go on forever!?” Suddenly it crosses my mind. However, filmmaking is more exciting and difficult than other jobs, and it is a valuable tool that lifts you out of complacency. It’s really difficult though (lol).
Who are the filmmakers who have influenced your approach and style? I am reminded of Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Hong Sang-soo, also dark comedies on American television.
I love Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and he’s really influenced me. The conversation scenes in the store may have been influenced by Aki Kaurismäki. I recently fell in love with Hong Sang-soo, and he has become my favorite director.
You are a first-time feature film maker. What was your path to filmmaking?
When I had settled on my style as a commercial director and was able to choose my career, I was approached by Kentaro Hayashi, the CEO of Nothing New, who was an old friend of mine. Like Mr. Sakai, I am someone who can’t do anything by myself, so thanks to your enthusiastic invitation, I was able to work on film production. The plot was rewritten two or three times due to budget and content constraints. With the keyword “convenience store” in mind, “AnyMart” was born pretty quickly and we started working towards production.
What are your goals for advancing your career? Are you currently working on any further projects?
As a commercial director, I have a strong desire to make Japan’s empty advertising industry more interesting. I entered this industry admiring the interesting and stylish advertisements of the 1980s. As for feature films, we are currently planning a feature-length horror film. “AnyMart” ended up being a comedy-like work, so this time I’m aiming for a truly gruesome and scary horror work.
In one scene, a character says, “You have to do what you love as a job, because someday you’re going to die.” Do you yourself satisfy that feeling through filmmaking? Is this what you like best?
I certainly feel that way when I create advertisements. What I create is important to me, but what I love most is having fun and collaborating with my favorite friends and talents, so I’m currently able to achieve that in my position as a commercial director. However, the process of making a film is full of hardships and hardships, especially during the script writing stage, and I still feel like I’m still a baby. I hope to continue to enjoy film production in the same light and fun way that I enjoy making advertisements.
