“The question of parenthood is at the heart of all my films”

ADriving his taxi, a Frenchman nicknamed Jay (Romain Duris) crisscrosses the streets of Tokyo every day. In the hope of finding his daughter Lily (Mei Cirne-Masuki), whom he has not seen since his separation nine years ago from her mother. As he prepares to give up and return to France, a teenage girl enters his taxi…

In “Keeper”, his first film, the Franco-Belgian Guillaume Senez featured a high school girl who became pregnant by her young lover. In 2018, “Our battles” told the daily life of Olivier (Romain Duris, already) and his two children, after the sudden disappearance of their mother. With equal delicacy and great tact, “A Missing Part” completes a trilogy on parenthood. Co-written with Jean Denizot, the film exposes the “principle of continuity” in force for one hundred and fifty years in Japan: in the event of separation, the courts recognize neither shared custody nor visiting rights. And the first parent who takes the child into their home instantly gains sole custody.

Meeting with Guillaume Senez.

Some 150,000 children (or one in six minors) are abducted each year in Japan and lose all contact with one of their parents

How did the story of “A Missing Part” come about?

I was with Romain Duris in Japan for the release of “Our Battles” when I came across this legal provision of which I knew nothing and which affects so many people: some 150,000 children (or one in six minors) are kidnapped every year in Japan and lose all contact with one of their parents. In 2022, we followed a demonstration in Tokyo against child abductions, and understood that this concerned expatriates, but above all Japanese, as many men as women… Their distress is such that some, among those whom the we met, appropriated the film and saw it as a film adaptation of their personal story. But it is truly a fictional film, “inspired by real facts made public” as it is indicated at the beginning.

This problem remains little known in France. How do you explain it?

It is both simple and complex, as is often the case in Japan. The idea is to preserve the stability, not mental but physical and material, of the child. This provision has existed for centuries for a very simple reason: the state, which is very conservative, does not want people to divorce. And refuses to interfere in family affairs. Expatriates who discover this at the time of a separation are often amazed. And it is very violent. Since the ratification of the Hague Convention, Japan is supposed to accept joint custody but in reality, nothing changes and the police never intervene on behalf of the other parent. Passed last May, a law – more equitable – must come into force in two years, but everyone already knows that it will not change much in practice.

The story is also that of an immigrant, a Frenchman abroad.

Films about people from Africa or Eastern countries who take up the challenge of integration are so numerous that we sometimes no longer receive them. It's like the homeless person you meet every day in your neighborhood and whom you end up no longer seeing. Taking the opposite view, with a Frenchman in the role of the immigrant, allows us to show that, whether we are in Japan, Belgium or the United States, the problem of latent racism is the same. It is a sub-theme, which appears implicitly. We also see the character of this French woman arrive, played by Judith Chemla, who does not speak Japanese and discovers a terrible reality. She will experience what Jay has been going through for nine years.

The question of parenthood is at the heart of all my films. And almost in spite of myself, they are all built around a male character, a slightly annoying guy, with weaknesses and a gray area, and whose trajectory will be influenced by female characters.

How involved was Romain Duris in the creation of the film?

As soon as we heard about this story, Romain and I felt it was obvious that we had to make a film about it. Once back in Brussels, he directed me to an article from “Paris Match” and a report from “Envoyé Spécial”… Very quickly, we sent him several versions of the script and he gave me feedback. He was involved very early in the process for a long time, started working on his Japanese very early on. I am a very loyal person. If I give my trust, it's for life. Conversely, if I don't get along well on a human level with a person, I cannot consider working with them. It has to be someone with whom I could go on vacation, eat out and go bar hopping in the evenings. This is how it is with all my colleagues.

“A missing part” by Guillaume Senez, with Romain Duris and Judith Chemla. Duration: 1 hour 38 minutes. In theaters November 13.