Katsu Kanai

“I had been challenged by the words of the young Ôshima Nagisa, who declared 'I won’t accept something as cinema unless it is founded in an absolutely new story and an absolutely new methodology. We cannot be allowed to imitate ourselves.' While there are some points in common across each of the three films in the Smiling Milky Way Trilogy, I truly did my utmost to distinguish them at both the level of story and method—to maintain their distinct and unique qualities.”