The movie “i ai,” directed for the first time by Mahito the People, is set to be released nationwide on March 8th (Friday). The main trailer, scene photos, and comments from the cast have been unveiled.
Mahito the People, the frontman of the alternative rock band GEZAN and known for his activities outside of music, such as writing novels, appearing in films, organizing the free festival “Zenkankaku Matsuri” and anti-war demonstrations, weaves his own layer of culture in this first film. The film was also an official selection for the 2022 Tokyo International Film Festival’s Future of Asia section. Based on Mahitu’s own experiences, the film depicts the days, encounters, and partings of the main character, a band member named Ko, his brother Hee, whom Ko idolizes, and their friends as they spend time together with music, and their earnest moments.
Kentaro Tomita, who plays the role of the main character, Ko, was selected out of approximately 3,500 people in an audition titled “All Senses Audition. Mirai Moriyama, who is active not only in movies but also on stage and as a dancer, plays the role of Hee’s brother; Honami Sato, the drummer of Gesu no Kyokumi-Otto, is expanding her activities as an actor; and Kira, Hee’s brother who forms a band with Kou, is played by Horikoshi, who won the Best Rising Actor Award at the 37th Takasaki Film Festival for “The World Doesn’t Notice Us”. Kazuki Horike, who won the Best Up-and-Coming Actor Award at the 37th Takasaki Film Festival for his role in the film “The World Doesn’t Notice Us. The film also stars Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Eita Nagayama, Kyoko Koizumi, and many other talented actors.
The trailer and scene photos depicting Kou, his brother Hee, and the people around them capture a poignant moment in their lives. The film begins with a scene in which Kou learns to play the guitar from his brother Hee to the accompaniment by director Mahito, and includes disturbing shots that foreshadow the grand climax of their encounter and separation.
Actors’ comment
We have decided to release “i ai” in theaters.
I am deeply moved to think that everyone will finally be able to see that summer.
The smell of the sea in Akashi two and a half years ago, the park where I wandered alone in the middle of the night, the children’s encores, the sound of exploding guitars, the rooftop where I screamed, all these moments are still fresh in my mind and in my heart.
The summer of “i ai” was the best.
It is undeniably the youth of my life.
I am so happy to be able to deliver this work to you all.
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone I will meet in the future.
I hope that “i ai” will reach many people.
–Kentaro Tomita
“i ai” was shot sometime at the end of summer.
Although my detailed memories are gradually fading, the impact that time had on me is still clear. The image that comes to me when I meditate on it is an endlessly penetrating, bright red and blue. I find it amusing that I was able to be a part of Mahito’s first film, which is full of poetic and primitive auteurism.
It is a world that could only have been created by film. I thought it would be meaningless if I did not experience it in a movie theater.
–Mirai Moriyama
Nice to meet you, I am Kazuki Horike, who plays the role of Kira, the younger brother of Hee brother.
In this film, the beauty of a moment that cannot be expressed in words, such as meeting someone and parting, is captured along with the scenery.
This film also gave me a good opportunity to think about the people I have lost and the people I will meet in the future.
I hope you will experience it on the screen as well.
–Kazuki Horike
Hee’s presence is too great. His way of life in this story, from my point of view, is outlandish, unstable, cool, enviable, and irreplaceable. I was happy to be able to live with him. For some reason, I feel comfortable with a kind of violent relationship between music and people in this world. I am glad to have met him.
–Honami Sato
Director Mahitu and I watched the preview together.
I was struck by it.
I absorbed through my skin something that has been happening inside and outside of me for as long as I can remember, something that cannot be verbalized, something that goes back and forth in a mysterious way.
This is what I wanted to see.
This is what I wanted to see. “i ai” is a red light that has illuminated the inharmonious world of today,
I can only look forward to seeing how it will reach you all.
–Eita Nagayama
I was happy to be able to participate in this ephemeral, intense, and beautiful film.
–Kyoko Koizumi
Finally, the film is going to be released.
This is a story about a summer when I endured a cough and held my breath for a season, and about living through the summer with my beloved friends without losing my fresh wounds.
Why do we record? Why do we challenge eternity? The answer to these questions is affirmed by a series of moments that can only be captured in the format of a film. The attempt to make the most of death in the living time, and the traces of it call for poetry.
“i ai, Souei, meet again. No, I will meet the truth again and again. I know that the truth, arrived at in the false time of film, will illuminate the future like a talisman. I am convinced that these 118 minutes of righteous confusion will be a weapon to survive the distortion of reality.
–Mahito the People (Director and screenwriter)
i ai
Cast Kentaro Tomita, Honami Sato, Kazuki Horike, Yuki Iwanami, KIEN, K-BOMB, Komuai, Toshiaki Chiku, Ichi Omiya, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Eita Nagayama, Kyoko Koizumi, Mirai Moriyama
Director/Screenplay/Music Mahitu the Peepo
Cinematography by Masafumi Sanai, Illustrations by Hideki Arai
Theme Song: GEZAN with Million Wish Collective “Third Summer of Love” (Jyusangetsu)
Producer: Yuji Hiratai, Kotaro Miyata, Sho Sejima
Art Director: Hisashi Sasaki Lighting Director: Toshihide Kosaka Sound Mixer: Miraisuke Shimazu
Editing Jun Kuriyagawa Sound Effects Kenji Shibasaki VFX Supervisor Odyssey
Costume Masae Miyamoto Costume Designer (Mirai Moriyama) Daisuke Iga Hair Make-up Yurino Hamano
Assistant Director Akito Terada Production Manager Ryu Tanimura Skater Supervisor Shinpei Ueno Publicity Mariko Hirai
Production: STUDIO BLUE Distribution: PARCO
©STUDIO BLUE (2022/Japan/118min/color/DCP/5.1ch)
Official website: https://i-ai.jp
Official X: https://x.com/iai2022
■Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/i_ai_movie_2024/
Story
The setting is Akashi, Hyogo. A young man, Ko (Kentaro Tomita), who is living a monotonous life with no expectations and no future, is confronted by a famous local band member, Hee Brother (Mirai Moriyama). He is caught up in the band with Kira (Kazuki Horike), the younger brother of Hee, and Kou finds his life sparkling again in the band, a place where he has made friends for the first time. Koh is not intimidated by the yakuza, and is on the verge of making his major label debut, and seems happy with his girlfriend Ruri (Sato Honami). Just then, Koh suddenly parted ways with his brother Hee, who had been an overwhelming presence in his life and whom he had always admired. A few years later, Koh, who had abandoned his band and become an office worker, is confronted by a vision of his brother Hee …….
