You are one of the most prolific filmmakers in the world. 3-4 films per year. Do you maintain the same enthusiasm and strength after all these years?

When I was an assistant director, I wanted to be able to show the director’s image to more people. I was running around making films. I always thought that there were people more talented than me and that they would be the ones to direct films. I got there through a certain process, even a strenuous one.

Compared to then, however, now I don’t think I am exaggerating. For me, filmmaking is like that. I am happy to have the right environment to make films. I feel that the more I work, the more energy I get. It’s really nice to make films and work at this pace. It would be rude to my team and everyone who works to say that I am tired.

Throughout your career you must have received many offers, many scripts. But how do you decide what is best to shoot?

The timing of meetings with people and the timing of the project are slightly different. First I get an offer, then there is an interval between the time when we meet and decide and the time when the project is implemented. Unfortunately, there is only one project you can choose at a time. It would be nice if two could be chosen at the same time, but it is impossible. What I do, therefore, is to accept the project that is decided first. Sometimes it happens that I accept one project and then another one comes out with a higher budget and more interesting content. But since I compromised with the first one, I realize the first one. And then I try to carve out time to do the next one with more money and more fun.

You have been confronted with almost every genre, particularly “yakuza movies” and horror films. But you often mix different genres in your films. Do you like to do something new each time that you have never accomplished?

I don’t have a specific genre. When I make a film I don’t think about genre at all, which “category” it might belong to. I often make yakuza movies, but I mix genres. I like to do that. A horror film may contain some funny or interesting element that also has nothing to do with horror. I am not tied to any particular genre, which is why I make so many films, I feel free to explore.

In Yakuza films, for example, there are characters who are afraid of ghosts, and the genera veers toward the fantastic, but there can also be comic moments. In my films, however, I consider the characters much more important than the genre itself. What I like about these films is that the protagonists manage to do something that would normally take 10 years of politics in one night. And they solve it violently. The pace is fast. It doesn’t matter what happens the next moment.

One of your best-known films, Audition, is a horror film.

Actually, I don’t consider Audition a horror movie, it’s not a supernatural story, there is no monster. The film is about a girl who just wants the person she loves to be there for her, maybe doing things that are a little “bizarre,” that’s for sure, but I don’t consider it a horror film in the strict sense. The novel it’s based on scared me a lot, it’s very realistic. We often tend to consider as horror something that doesn’t exist in real life, but there are also many terrifying things in life, created by human beings.

The choice of Eihi Shiina in the role of the main character Asami was crucial.

She really embodies that fear that any man could see in her; she has created a very scary character. In the original novel, of course, Asami is there, but thanks to Shiina the character has become much more cruel and scary.

What are your memories of the Masters of Horror project?

It was a very interesting independent project. I was convinced that I could do whatever I wanted, that I was free. But then when I made my episode [Imprint], it wasn’t even broadcast. I was a little disappointed with American “freedom.”

Do you prefer to work with a high budget, even with limitations or restrictions?

If the budget is large, you can invest a little more time and money. At first glance, it looks free, but there are a lot of restrictions, as if you have to have a great result. You have a nice location, the food and catering are better. Low budget, on the other hand, means you have no money or time, but you are free, you can do anything. Every film has its budget, but the joy of making a film is different. I think it is a waste not to enjoy different things.