Matsuyama Kenichi & Higashide Masahiro appear at the screening of their movie "Satoshi no Seishun" at Tokyo international Film Festival

Matsuyama Kenichi and Higashide Masahiro appeared at the screening of their new movie "Satoshi no Seishun" held at EX Theatre Roppongi on 2 November which was the closing film of the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival. Also present was the film's director Mori Yoshitaka. During this event, Olympic medalists Yoshida Saori, Miyake Hiromi and Haneda Takuya also made a surprise appearance to present flower bouquets to the actors and directors. The movie which is based on the non-fiction novel by Osaki Yoshio who won the 13th Shincho Gakugeisho, features Matsuyama in the role of the late professional shogi player Murayama Satoshi who passed away at the young age of 29 due to an illness he had been suffering from since he was a child.

Matsuyama commented that he was very happy that the movie was selected to be the closing film for the festival while Higashide who plays professional shogi player Habu Yoshiharu, jokingly referred to himself as the "heroine" of this movie. Higashide also said that he was proud and glad that the movie which featured shogi that is a sign of Japanese tradition, could be featured during the festival. When asked about his thoughts on participating in the film festival, Matsuyama said that it was full of fun memories and he was honoured to be able to meet Meryl Streep and Abe Mario-san i.e. the Prime Minister Abe Shinzo who had appeared as Mario during the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics. He also revealed that he gets a lot of positive energy by meeting the festival's participants which in turn provides a lot of courage for him to move forward in his career. As for the question about how Matsuyama feels resonant with Murayama's way of living, he stated that both of them have a career which they are fully immersed in and dedicate their lives to i.e. shogi and acting. However, the movie is not only about shogi and also features how Murayama drank with his friends and played mahjong. As such, he likes the way how Murayama lived according to his wishes and this has been inspiring to his own life as well. The movie also showcases the traditional culture of shogi so he hopes that everyone in the world can get to see it and appreciate the beauty of this game.

"Satoshi no Seishun" will be shown in cinemas from 19 November while the Tokyo International Film Festival will end on 3 November.

Source: Eiga.com