Ken Kao: The Sea Of Trees

An Interview with Ken Kao: The Sea Of Trees

Ken Kao, the Executive Producer of  “The Sea Of Trees” Movie sat down with the OMTimes Team and talked about the creation of this iconic film.

Publisher’s Note: The Sea of Trees is available on  iTunes  Amazon .

Christopher Buck: we enjoyed the film very much. And when I say it was very intensely inward, and really, I thought, made you think. The Sea of Trees reminded us of–in a way of The Hero’s Journey but inward is far as outward, and it seemed to be a healing journey to the center of the heart of the main character. As Carl Jung said, “Your vision will become only when you look inside your own heart.” What looks outside dreams. Who looks inside awakens, and we thought the film was quite poignant in that effect.

Ken Kao: Oh, great, glad you feel that way. I do agree with your thoughts about that. You know, I’ve had a couple screenings recently, and obviously over the course of the last year or so, and I think a lot of people that have seen the film share those sentiments. It’s great.

Christopher Buck: Why “The Sea of Trees”? Why did you pick this place as the most beautiful place to die?

Ken Kao: I can’t take credit for that because it’s obviously Chris Sparling who wrote the script. But, you know, I would say that Chris who writes his idea from many people who actually do go to the Sea of Trees, or rather Aokigahara which is a real place in Japan where people have been committing suicide for the last few decades, if not even longer.

And I think for the Japanese it’s always been a part of their culture to commit suicide. It’s obviously an extreme thing but it’s not an uncommon event for them, and it’s something that dates back to even ancient times in Japan, and it still occurs every year. You know, the Aokigahara does have thousands of suicides, upping the number that happens every year, and people, and it’s not just Japanese people. You know, people actually go there–travel from across the world as you see in one moment in the film. That’s–it’s not, you know, that’s obviously a real person, and Arthur and Takumi aren’t real people but, you know, that’s the fiction of things of that actually do happen there. And, I imagine that’s without being somebody who’s never contemplated doing that myself, of course, on a personal level, I think people do go there because it is a peaceful place for them. It’s–I think it’s unlike any other place I’ve been to. We went there to shoot for a week and having actually been there myself I think, you know, it’s a place for people to find a peace of mind I guess in an otherwise noisy world. And, maybe it provides a start level of contrast for them, about where they live or where they live their daily lives.

Christopher Buck: It almost seemed like the mood that the forest itself was alive and was preventing them from leaving at the beginning. What was it like to film there? Did the place feel different?

Ken Kao: Yeah, I think part of it’s the mystique and obviously the reputation, but I also think that atmospherically it really is a unique place. I think it got its reputation for a reason. You go there, and once you kind of start walking into for more than ten minutes, it becomes deadly quiet.

You know, it’s set on the lava. It’s at the foot of Mount Fuji. So there has been lava flow there over time, and so, there’s not a whole lot of wildlife, if any at all. And it has this–very unique, it’s very different than any other forest I’ve ever been to. And you start, as you walking you see these little memorials if you will. You see people leaving flowers or photos at certain spaces, and the assumption is that those are places that have been memorial, that’s memorialized a place where somebody committed suicide. So, it gets real very quick.

Christopher Buck: The forest in the movie certainly seemed magic. You know, when he entered the forest it was almost like going to a place where time stopped, a place of limbo. Do you believe that only through the journey within can one reach self-forgiveness and redemption and absolution?

Ken Kao: I absolutely feel that way. I think, this is a story about a lot of things. But, like, in real life, life is also a part of a lot of things, and one of the things that you’re eluded to just now is looking from within. I think it’s easy to kind of get caught up in all the things around us and what we have. But generally or otherwise, we think that that’s going to satisfy us, but, you know, ultimately, it’s about finding that affirmation in yourself in some way and looking at your own life and being mindful of what one needs to take care of, while we’re here. To your point I think, you know, another element of this film is just an examination of how we all process loss and guilt in our own different ways.

Liane Buck: Yes, what I thought was very interesting about the movie was the fact when he realized that somebody else outside of him was needing help, he moved beyond himself to go beyond his own sadness and grief, beyond his own guilt, beyond his own shame to try to save that person. In the end, it was his compassionate nature that ultimately saved him.

Ken Kao: I agree with your sentiments as well. I am happy that it triggered those types of thoughts in you.

Christopher Buck: It was interesting, and I seemed like his own past to self-redemption or self-forgiveness was through compassion and selfless service, and I thought that was a very intriguing.

Liane Buck: It is like he had to prove, you know, to the forest or to all these spirits that He was “worthy” to continue. The forest invested on him, somewhat. It was sort of challenging him that of like how do you like to survive that fall? How you like to survive after being hurt. How you like to survive after this? It’s more than a lesson on survival because he didn’t want to survive initially. Ken Kao: He wanted the other person to survive. Liane Buck: Yes, he wanted the other person to survive, but it was kind of his alter ego, in a way. But anyways, I can go on and on here.

Ken Kao: Not at all, I am happy that this affected you in this way, and we can have this great dialogue about it.

Christopher Buck: The stranger Takumi that he met, we feel he was representative of what’s called a psychopomp, which is a guide to help someone reach the other side, or not. In this particular case, it gave him the opportunities to find himself beyond his pain. How difficult was this to convey this kind of this imagery, when you were filming it?

Ken Kao: The imagery meaning what? The forest or Ken Watanabe’s character in general?

Christopher Buck: No, his character in general, because he seemed on one hand, he seemed very human. On the other hand, he didn’t necessarily seem real, and then we find out at the end he may not have been real.

Ken Kao: I think, again, I would attribute credit to that largely to the script obviously and the storytelling. It was always meant for Takumi to represent some type of spirit if you will, for lack of a better word, representation, a reincarnation, whatever word strikes your fancy of Joan’s character. And, then, regarding execution, Ken always thought about when he discussed the character with us, he always thought about himself as, how am I a proper–how do I best become an avatar for Naomi’s character? And, in the psychology of him as an actor was always to think about it in that way, and I think he did a really nice job. He was true to what he believed the Takumi character would be, a man, a Japanese man who’s at this forest trying to process his own grief and survive this journey. And, then he also knew that he had to be some type of representation of an otherworldly representation of Joan Brennan, and then also, you know, to handle all those things simultaneously I think was–I think he did an excellent job.

Christopher Buck: We certainly thought so. I wasn’t–what was the most difficult part of the movie in your opinion to bring forward?

Ken Kao: Well, we did shoot in western Massachusetts, which was pretty rough. We shot in a really smaller town, about Western Mass, which was a couple hour outside of Boston. And, we were in all the forests, and its pretty rough terrain in there sometimes, you know. They’ve got a lot of critters and ticks and everything like that, and, you know, our daily call sheets had a lot of guidelines and warnings, let’s put it that way. So, you know, it was a bit of a physical marathon. You know, but other than that, you know, it’s the usual. It’s just making sure that we dignify the material in a proper way, you know, from the actors and the directors, for Gus, all the way down to, you know, our crew. It’s just making sure that we focus on the work and make the best film we can.