In a two-decade directing career that began with the 1997 relationship drama "Open House," Isao Yukisada has made everything from the critically acclaimed "Go" (2001), with its rebellious Zainichi Korean hero battling his way through a Japanese high school, to the smash hit "Crying Out Love in the Center of the World" (2004), with its story of high school lovers separated by a fatal disease.
But the 49-year-old director had never made a manga adaptation (a local industry stand-by) prior to the turbulent coming-of-age drama "River's Edge." When I meet him at the office of distributor Kino Films, he is about to leave for the Berlin International Film Festival, where "River's Edge" is set to screen in the Panorama section.
Tall and lanky, with wavy long hair and black-framed glasses, Yukisada is instantly recognizable from his photos, especially after he takes off the surgical mask he's wearing. ("I'm worried about catching the flu," he later explains.) First on my list of questions is, why the manga blank in his filmography?