Thread by @Umechan01234

Ryohei Suzuki
- Korou no Chi LEVEL2

1. Role Creation

Dir. said he created the role carefully during lockdown and slowly created Uebayashi's visuals. His hairstyle wirh no sideburns is Suzuki's idea.

cinematoday.jp/news/N0125162

2. Uebayashi's childhood house

The key to Uebayashi's past in the film is the house created by art director Tsutomu Imamura, who won the 42nd Japan Academy Prize for Best Art Direction with "The Blood of Wolves (2018)".

Imamura said about the set as if he had known Uebayashi since he was a child, "His father was a terrible violent man and he was always drinking. He lived in a ramshackle tenement where the wind and rain and everything else could come in."

Even the props in the room were carefully selected to create the world in which the character spent his days.

Suzuki: I've heard from staff the day before shooting that Imamura has done an amazing job with the art in the house.

Suzuki: This is the place where the monster was born, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can feel there.

On the day of shooting it was not only Dir. Shiraishi who was very impressed. Uebayashi, which Suzuki had prepared over a long period of time, gained even more depth when he stood in the space created by Imamura.

3. Suzuki's leadership

In the old days, actors playing yakuza roles at Toei Studios would walk around the studio in gangs just like the roles they played. Suzuki and the members of Uebayashi clan formed a bond during filming that recalls such a legend.

Suzuki was always in close conversation with the actors playing the members of the clan, not only during his performance, but also on the days when scenes of the clan were to be filmed.

Particularly in the first half of the film, the actors in Uebayashi clan had to face the veteran actors such as Takashi Ukaji, Susumu Terashima, and Kotaro Yoshida, all of whom have their own unique auras.

That's why Suzuki Ryohei kept inspiring the young actors, and the actors who listened to Suzuki's advice with gritty eyes were filled with the determined spirit as the performance approached. This bond made the lonely existence of Hioka stand out even more.

4. Each of Uebayashi's lines, made up in a variety of expressions, is so cool that you want to imitate it. This is because Suzuki has sublimated him into a role to give the audience a complex feeling of being convinced of his righteousness even though he is a crazy dark villain.

Why are we so attracted to him when he is so violent and terrifying? I am sure that many people who have seen this film will say, "Ryohei Suzuki was awful." He is truly the best villain in the history of Japanese cinema.

It is due to the passion of Suzuki, who continued to face the role with sincerity and put everything into the film. I hope you will enjoy Suzuki's best and scariest performance ever, as he unleashed all the energy he had accumulated after the period of self-restraint.