Never without my daughter! This could be the cry uttered by the French taxi driver played by Romain Duris in A missing part by Guillaume Senez. Six years later Our battlesthe duo once again questions paternity in this drama which takes them to Tokyo.
“It was after expatriates told us about their struggle to see their children again that I started writing a screenplay with Jean Denizot. Human relationships interested me more than the fact that the plot takes place in Japan,” the director explains to 20 Minutes.
The bureaucracy in question
The Japanese wife of his hero left with their young daughter over whom the father no longer has any rights. “Joint custody does not exist in Japan,” explains Romain Duris. It is almost impossible for him to find his daughter and he had to leave everything to settle in Tokyo in the crazy hope of seeing her again after years of separation.” A French woman played by Judith Chemla finds herself in the same situation as him.
“I didn’t want to attack the Japanese,” insists the director. This type of situation where bureaucracy takes precedence over people could happen in any country, including France. » The ordeal of these parents deprived of their offspring is however not made easier by the fact that they are in a country where neither the language nor the habits are familiar to them.
Know how to remain neutral
Romain Duris delivers a delicate, subtle performance. “In Japan, you have to know how to remain calm in all circumstances or you risk making your situation worse if you lose your cool,” explains Romain Duris. It is very difficult to understand and apply for a French person. » The actor speaks in Japanese in the film and he manages to convey his character's distress with a minimum of expression.
“It was surprising to have to restrict yourself all the time,” he remembers. I learned to speak Japanese phonetically but above all I worked to keep my intonations neutral. I had a coach who corrected me when she thought I was doing too much. She always told me to keep my tone as flat as possible, the opposite of what people usually ask me.” The rare times when this exhausted man gets angry at the injustices he experiences are all the more striking. We suffer with him while fearing that he will forever lose his chances of convincing judges and lawyers.
The clash of cultures
His reunion with his teenage daughter does not simplify his life in a world where everything is very codified. His wife's family controls his child and orders him not to see her again. “What the hero experiences is a nightmare that the cultural shock makes particularly painful because it involves his child and he is powerless in the face of the system,” declares Guillaume Senez. It is a Japan very different from the one we often see in the cinema that reveals A missing part.
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