Singaporean film director Eric Khoo has received numerous awards, including the Singapore Cultural Medallion and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government. Since 1995, he has played a key role in reviving Singapore’s film industry and gaining international recognition. His notable works have been screened at prestigious film festivals including Berlin, Venice, and Cannes.
On the occasion of his latest film “Spirit World” screening at Tokyo International Film Festival, we speak with him about the casting of the movie and particularly Catherine Deneuve and Masaaki Sakai, his family’s involvement in the movie, surf music in Japan, the Japanese style of the film and other topics
The cast in the movie is one of its most impressive assets. Can you tell me how it worked and particularly how you managed to have Catherine Deneuve and Masaaki Sakai in the movie?
We were in contact with Catherine through our co-producer Matilde Incerti. Catherine liked our film treatment and so I met her in Paris 2022. During our tempura lunch in one of her favourite Japanese restaurants, we discussed the film and she shared her thoughts with me. She is fluent in English so it was a breeze conversing with her. One of my questions to her was, “what happens after death?” She replied very matter of fact, “I feel there’s something more…” As for Sakai-san, I was a fan of his very popular TV show “Monkey: Journey to the West”, as a child. When my co-producer Yutaka Tachibana suggested Sakai-san for the Yuzo role, I felt it would work as he’s also a musician and highly adored by the Japanese. We needed someone with equal weight to Catherine as Yuzo.
How was your cooperation with them?
It was wonderful as they’re both very smart and Sakai-san also speaks good English, thus they were able to offer a lot to their characters. Now, as the script’s dialogue was written in English, it had to be translated to French and Japanese, and in this respect, Catherine and Sakai-san would tweak their lines to make them more appropriate. Then, a trilingual translator would review the dialogue to ensure it was effective before advising me in English. We needed to demonstrate that in the spirit world there are no language barriers.
There is a meta level in the film. Sakai’s past as a singer and TV star, Deneuve playing an ageing star that is worried if her performance is as good as the past. Can you tell me a bit more about this approach, and is Hayato kind of inspired by you?
I definitely can relate to Hayato as I know how difficult and frustrating it can be to create something special. Initially my youngest son, Lucas, assisted to write a treatment shortly after my dog, dear Woofy passed away in 2018 – the concept at the time dealt more with reincarnation. While there was interest in this treatment, I found it very difficult to develop into a proper script. It was a bit of a struggle but ultimately my eldest son, Ed, came onboard during the pandemic and suggested new ideas that we felt worked better. Add to this strong family dynamic, my second son James contributed his creative nous to the film as a producer as well.
At the time, we knew Catherine was interested in doing a film set in her beloved Japan so we wrote Claire with that in mind. Initially we were thinking of singer-actor Yūzō Kayama but due to health reasons he was unable to be in our film.
Check the review of the film
The film also functions as tribute to the Japanese surf bands of the past and particularly the Spiders. How did you and the scriptwriter decide that and how was it implemented into the movie?
Ed and I share a mutual love for The Beach Boys, and Meiko, Hayato’s mother, would be our “Surfer Girl” – which is a beautiful pop ballad. It was thus appropriate to use the 1960s Japanese surf culture and music as the backdrop to young love between Yuzo and Meiko. Historically, Chiba kicked off the Japanese surf culture as the American G.I.s would surf the big waves there. Therefore, it was an important setting for us to film at. The cool thing with Sakai-san’s band The Spiders was that at one point they were even more popular than the Beatles!.
With every film I make there will be music that I listen to for inspiration and in the case of “Spirit World”, it was “Break Away” written by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and his father Murry, who adopted the pseudonym “Reggie Dunbar” for that song. Both names were added to our film. The other inspiring song that Ed discovered was by a French composer we totally adore – Michel Legrand with “Pieces of Dreams”.
Since music is so integral to “Spirit World”, I have to mention popular French composer Jeanne Cherhal who wrote the French songs that are sung by Catherine/Claire in the film. In addition, the music score features the contributions of my son Christopher and longtime collaborator Kevin Mathews, as well as arranger Christine Sham.
In your opinion, what happens to people after they die?
It’s pretty much what you will experience in “Spirit World”.
The film starts as a family drama, but eventually turns into a road movie, although not only on the obvious level with the car travelling, but also regarding the ‘trip’ the protagonists take towards finding some kind of solace from the miseries they face. Can you tell me a bit more about that part?
From day one, Ed wanted the elements of a road movie in “Spirit World” and we felt that a journey to a faraway place would be a good setup for the birth of a new family unit.
The location the film was shot is also significant. Can you elaborate?
In November 2023, before the shoot in January/February this year, I was brought to several lovely locations that my brilliant team had sourced. The team ensured that the settings were suitable based not only on the script but also references I had provided.
The movie looks distinctly Japanese in style, despite being shot and written by Singaporeans and starring a French in a protagonist role. How did you achieve that?
Ohta-san, our set designer, did an incredible job on the interiors. Adrian Tan, my Director of Photography, beautifully captured the landscape. We watched many Japanese period dramas together for inspiration, and I’m starting to think I must have been Japanese in a past life! Like Catherine, I am a true blue Japan lover. Back in 1965 – the year I was born – she visited Japan to publicise “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” and immediately fell in love with the land. She would come back frequently but “Spirit World” is the first time she’s made a film in the Land of the Rising Sun
Can you tell me about what you will be working on next, both as a director and producer?
I do have a strong sense that my late mother – who introduced me to cinema a long time ago when I was a little boy – is whispering into my ear to direct a scary paranormal film and to produce a splatter bloodbath! Yes, horror was her favourite genre!!
