There is little doubt that Makoto Shinkai has delivered yet another stunning film with Suzume no Tojimari. So it's no surprise that the Japanese filmmaker is already preparing for his next big project.
Makoto Shinkai already has a successful career that took flight with 2016's Your Name. 2019's Weathering With You was also a huge hit and Suzume is currently well on its way to defeating Shinkai's previous works.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of all three films is how they all deal with a major calamity. Makoto Shinkai had made it clear that Suzume was his way of understanding the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
In a new interview with Total Film, Shinkai admitted that he is already considering his next project after the release of Suzume.
"So, now that I've completed Suzume, have I completed that journey with trying to come to terms with or understand that disaster, or will my next film or my next, next film also take on disaster as a central theme?" Shinkai asked.
"I'm at the moment unsure, and it'll probably take me a few more months before I kind of hone in my ideas on this blank slate of what kind of story I want to tell next," he admitted.
Makoto Shinkai also discussed why the three-legged chair was an important part of Suzume.
"There might be a little bit, but in terms of why the chair is three legged… The first is I felt that that gave it a bit more comical, kind of funny feel," he continued. "I mean, you'd look at a three-legged chair, the off-balance sort of awkwardness, even watching the chair walking alone gives a comic relief to the film."
"The second, a little deeper, but the chair was presumably washed away during the tsunami before it was rediscovered, and in that process, lost one of its legs and to me that is a metaphor for Suzume’s mind if you will, her loss and her grief that she experienced as a result of the earthquake and tsunami," Shinkai continued.
Suzume is now screening theaters across North America.
Related: Suzume: Makoto Shinkai Explains Three-Legged Chair's Importance
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