●Opening at Togeki Theater and other cinemas across Japan from Saturday, Dec 15　
Official Website: www.astaire.co.jp/shokubutsu　(Japanese)
　
Profile:　Dai Sijie
Dai was born in Fujian, China in 1954. With an overseas study scholarship from the Chinese government in hand, he enrolled in the French National Film School, La Femis (IDEHC, at the time) in 1984 for graduate study and has lived in France ever since. In 1989, his first full-length film "China, My Sorrow" was shown at Cannes Film Festival and won the Prix Jean Vigo. He made his writing debut in 2000 with the book Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, which soon became a bestseller. In 2002, his film of the same title was nominated for the Golden Globe awards as the Best Foreign Language Film, and in 2006 his newest film "The Chinese Botanist's Daughters" was awarded Best Artistic Contribution by audiences at the Montreal World Film Festival.


(*This interview includes some potential scene spoilers. Persons who have not yet seen the film should proceed only with caution.)
　

--I thought the casting was wonderful. Especially, the actress who plays Min. She is the mixed child of French and Chinese parents, right? I heard that in order to bring her in, you purposely changed the script, so that her character was the child of a Russian and a Chinese national.

I wanted very much for her to play the role of Min, but I also had some personal reasons for making the change. It's because I relate a lot to her, in the sense that we manifest the mix of different cultures inside of us. I have spent the past 20 years in France so, in truth, I am not 100% Chinese, but neither am I 100% French. Since elements of the relationship between the two women felt a bit distant to my own life, I wanted to add something that would bring me close to them. Also, I set the movie in the botanical gardens for the same reason. When I was a child, I would pass a fabulous garden - just like you would see in the movies - everyday as I went to school.

--There is a scene where Min is leaving on a train for her honeymoon and, she can't let go of An's hand, even though the train has started to take off. For me, that scene was the most touching. Also, the way you shot the expression on the face of An's father, the moment he sees his daughter and starts to know that something is happening, was extremely dramatic and made an impact. What was your own favorite scene?

That's a good question. But I'd have to say the last scene. It's the moment that, just as Min and An are sharing a close moment, suddenly the father rushes in and a tragedy unfolds. We shot this in just one cut. Normally, to catch the dramatic energy of a scene like that, you'd need 100 cuts. And, though I guess if we had it may have been 'better', but to me I'm quite satisfied with it.

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