Jun Kunimura has long been one of the most active Japanese actors overseas, starting with the Ridley Scott thriller "Black Rain" in 1989 and continuing with the South Korean horror hit "The Wailing" last year. Able to shift gears effortlessly from comedy to drama or from bumbling husband to slithery bad guy, Kunimura is often the best thing in any given film, be it trash entertainment or auteurist art.
In the latter category is "Kokoro" ("Le Coeur Regulier"), Belgian director Vanja d'Alcantara's drama about a French woman named Alice (Isabelle Carre) who ventures to a remote Japanese island to find answers about her footloose brother, who died in an apparent suicide. Kunimura plays Daisuke, a former policeman who saves the suicidal from jumping off the island's spectacular cliff.
Speaking to The Japan Times at the Kyoto International Film and Art Festival, where "Kokoro" had its Japan premiere on Oct. 13, d'Alcantara says the search for a Japanese actor to play Daisuke began and ended with Kunimura.