The Awesomeness of “Kawapperi Mukoritta,” a Film that Denied All Previous Murotsuyoshi
Murotsuyoshi has been active as a unique play-by-play man. However, he played his first starring role in a movie in “My Daddy,” which was released last year.
This year, too, he has played a leading role in the movie “God Wants Payback” and in the drama series “Ame ni Nanashi no Mukohai” (WOWOW), and he even has the dignity of a leading actor these days. The film that will firmly establish Muro as an actor is the movie “Kawapperi Mukoritta,” which is currently in theaters.
The film is set in an old-fashioned apartment called “Heights Mukoritta” in a town in Hokuriku. Yamada Takeshi (Matsuyama Kenichi), a former convict, begins to live there, working at a salted squid factory and leading a quiet and solitary life, not getting involved with anyone. However, when he becomes involved with his neighbor Kozo Shimada (Muro Tsuyoshi), his landlord Shiori Minami (Hikari Mitsushima), tombstone salesman Kenichi Mizoguchi (Hidetaka Yoshioka), and other strange residents, he gradually begins to open up to them.
This film is directed by Naoko Ogigami, the director of the hit movie “Kamome Shokudo” in 2006, “Megane” in 2007, and “When They Seriously Knit” in 2005, who also directed the novel of the same title. Five years have passed since the completion of the screenplay. It took five years from the completion of the screenplay to release this latest work.
Shimada, played by Muro, is a brazen neighbor who grows vegetables in his garden. One day he comes to Yamada’s room to ask to borrow the bath, and every evening at dinner time he comes over to eat dinner as well. But as Shimada’s clumsy kindness encourages him, a feeling akin to friendship grows between them. It is a film full of new Muro’s charms” (a person involved in a wide-ranging TV show).
Muro Tsuyoshi got his breakthrough in dramas and movies directed by Yuichi Fukuda, who has produced numerous comedies. His “sly” acting style, in which he makes full use of his unique pacing and tempo, has made him a one-of-a-kind actor who is in great demand.
However, a major challenge awaited him in this film. On the second day of shooting, he was summoned by director Ogigami.
I don’t want the same Murotsuyoshi I used to be.
He was put in a difficult situation.
The Muro Tsuyoshi of the past was “the Muro Tsuyoshi with a spirit of service,” “the Muro Tsuyoshi who reads the atmosphere of the scene,” and “the Muro Tsuyoshi who cares for the leading actor and tries to manage the situation as a behind-the-scenes helpmate. I’m not going to need all of them, so I’m just going to think about Shimada.
He was told, “I don’t need everything, just think about Shimada,” and although he was angry, saying, “It’s very scary and very upsetting to throw everything away,” he said, “Somehow I was able to accept it.
However, there were various conflicts that led to the decision to “seal off the Muro Tsuyoshi of the past.
He has been attracting attention for his easygoing comedic performances and his outbursts. However, as I approached my 40s, I was looking for a new me.
It was just then that I received this offer. Because of the timing, he was ready to throw away the person he had been.
However, Muro struggled with Shimada’s role.
He spent his days eating Hana cuisine throughout the night to build a chubby figure and fighting with the director to create a “new Muro Tsuyoshi” that is full of humanity. Director Ogigami describes Muro as “a very serious person who spares no effort to respond sincerely to our desires.
Actress Hikari Mitsushima, who saw Muro up close during filming, said, “Muro is just getting beat up.
Muro, who was watching closely during the filming, was “just getting beat up. He was plumper than usual and sticky with sweat, which was both pitiful and very cute. I felt a great sense of defeat.
He recalled his struggles at the time in a speech at the opening of the film.
Director Ogigami says that the character of Shimada was the most difficult to cast. However, Shimada’s seemingly brazen appearance may be the true form of Muro Tsuyoshi under his mask. Muro himself said, “I had a little bit of trouble with Shimada’s environment.
I have some similarities with Shimada’s environment.
Muro himself recalls his own “solitary half-life,” saying, “My parents divorced when I was four years old.
His parents divorced when he was four years old. Since then, he has been raised by relatives. I don’t want my relatives and grandmother to feel sorry for me, don’t you?” He also expressed a sense of mission, saying, “I can’t allow my character to be distorted because I don’t have parents,” and “I will continue to show that I am laughing even though I don’t have parents. I don’t have parents, but I’m laughing this much, and I’m going to continue to appeal to them,” he confessed in a program called “Sunday no Hatsuimimi Gaku” (TBS) in which he appeared last year.
This work was such a turning point for him that he himself says, “Before Ogigami, after Ogigami. Kawapperi Mukoritta” may be a gift from God given to actor Murotsuyoshi…
Text: Shima Ukon (Broadcaster, Video Producer)
He is involved in program production in a wide range of genres, including variety, news, and sports programs. He has also planned and published many books on female TV announcers, idols, and the TV industry. While working on documentary programs, he became interested in history and recently published "Ieyasu was dead in Sekigahara" (Takeshobo Shinsho). She is also publishing the e-book series "Ibun Chakurezuregusa.
PHOTO: Sota Shima