, "Summer" became the standard ringtone in middle school campuses; in a certain era of
, Chinese audiences were amazed at the strong sense of the times in " The Sun Also Rises ", which continued to "" many years later. Let the bullets fly ";
is also in this era, " Sky City " has appeared in almost every classroom movie screening time.
Most people may have this indelible melody in their memory, but they will not think that they all come from the same person: Hisaishi Ryo .
No master's path to success is deserved, and Hisaishi has also experienced the experience of being unknown to the world.
In this process, there are three names in his life that have to be mentioned: Takeshi Kitano , Jiang Wen , Hayao Miyazaki .
The first person to discover Joe Hisaishi was Hayao Miyazaki.
In 1950, Hisaishi was born in Nakano City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. His original name was Fujisawa Mamoru , and he gave himself the stage name Hisaishi Jo, in order to pay tribute to the most admired African American musician and producer Quincy Jones . The childhoods of
music masters are often similar. Hisaishi let him pick up the violin at the age of four, and began to receive systematic music education at the age of five.
As a composer, music was enlightened early, and movies are also a part of it.
The high school teacher's father would take him to the movies when he had nothing to do. He could accumulate 300 film readings in one year. Even for a senior movie fan, this number is quite stressful.
Four years have passed, and the movie has opened a door to Hisaishi's world, and when he goes out to explore alone, music is the key. Throughout his childhood,
accompanied Yoshinori Hisaishi with the violin, trumpet, piano, rattle, taiko, dulcimer, , and various types of movies.
Joe Hisaishi, who played the trumpet in the performance club in junior high school, has secretly made up his mind to become a composer. Music training gave him confidence, and his film experience gave him inspiration.
In 1969, Hisaishi was admitted to the Department of Composition at the National University of Music in Japan. During college, his composition style gradually moved towards simplicity. He tried to analyze and dissect the works of , Philip Glass, , Terry Reilly and other minimalist musicians.
By chance, he listened to "A Rainbow in Curved Air" from minimalist musician Terry Riley, which is a colorful and diverse song mixed with electronic instrument and classical music. This also established Hisaishi's early experimental and avant-garde music style.
In 1974, Hisaishi Ryo first tried his sword, and composed the music for the TV animation "Hunter in the Forest" by Shunji Sonoyama.
At that time, the aesthetics of most directors still stayed on the traditional soundtrack style. No one listens or wants Hisaishi's songs, maybe he is too advanced, maybe he has not met the right person.
Joe Hisaishi was indeed a composer in his early years, but the output of dozens of songs a week is like an industrial assembly line for mass production. He hates it, but he can't change anything. Even with his own musical compositions outside of the soundtrack, it didn't make any waves.
Until one day, he met Hayao Miyazaki.
In 1983, after Hayao Miyazaki made "Lupin the Third" and "Sherlock Holmes", he resigned and left the company and decided to go it alone.
Hayao Miyazaki wrote the script for his first original animation " Wind Valley " and finished the storyboard, after most of the work, I suddenly found that finding a soundtrack artist who I liked was the biggest problem.
may have formed a bond with animation early. The director of " Grave of the Fireflies " Takahata Isao recommended Hisaishi Jean.
Hayao Miyazaki meets the soulmate of a lifetime in a humble music studio turned into a rundown bar.
After listening to Hisaishi's demo that took half a day to make, Miyazaki knew that the person in front of him who didn't have any masterpieces was the composer he was looking for.
"Nausicaa" won three awards at the 1985 Rome Fantasy Film Festival, the Best Film Award of the Film Festival, and the Daily Film Noburo Oto. In
, Hisaishi's 4-year-old daughter's "Nausicaa Sleeping Song" became his first widely influential work.
even had Japanese viewers expressing their wish to use this song as funeral music.
In 1991, Joe Hisaishi and Takeshi Kitano's first film "That Summer, Quiet Sea " was released, and Joe Hisaishi began to expand his soundtrack beyond animation.
Takeshi Kitano, who was fierce and open-mouthed, showed an unexpected sense of contrast in his cooperation with Joe Hisaishi.
Takeshi Kitano doesn't like traditional movie soundtracks, and he rarely makes too specific requirements for Hisaishi. The script and lines are simplified, and I hope Hisaishi can produce music that is as quiet as his concept.
It turns out that Takeshi Kitano really found the right person. Their musical concepts are surprisingly consistent to some extent, and it is precisely because of this harmony that the more universal classic "Summer" was born.
Takeshi Kitano once publicly stated at a Tokyo International Film Festival : "I hate animation the most, and I also hate Hayao Miyazaki very much, but that guy's works can make money, which makes me also I must admit that his animation is very good."
He may not really hate Miyazaki, but he does admire Hisaishi.
But well-known Chinese director Jiang Wen is not so "friendly" to Hisaishi.
During the production of "The Sun Also Rises", Jiang Wen approached Joe Hisaishi and first listened to the second movement of Mozart's "Requiem", and then very seriously got rid of him "to create music that is a little better than Mozart".
Joe Hisaishi was probably angry and went straight to the door to smoke. When
came back, Jiang Wen realized that his request was a little unreasonable, so he changed his words, "It's okay to be a little worse than Mozart".
It turned out that Hisaishi went out to calm down again.
Of course, anger is anger. Someone asked Hisaishi to make the soundtrack. He never neglected it for various reasons, and after watching "The Sun Also Rises" for the first time, he was indeed shocked.
Finally, Joe Hisaishi successfully created "The Sun Also Rises", which is full of the atmosphere of the local Chinese era. People who listen to it for the first time may not guess that it is a work by a Japanese composer. I don't know if
did not meet the requirements of Jiang Wen's Mozart level, but he liked it very much and even used it in "Let the Bullets Fly".
pays once for two soundtracks, Joe Hisaishi, perhaps the most economical soundtrack player.
movies belong to movies, and most of Hisaishi's career is still tied to Miyazaki Hayao.
Over the past 20 years, they have collaborated on many excellent works, including "City in the Sky" in 1986, " Totoro " in 1988, and "" in 1989." Witch's Delivery Service " and "Grave of Fireflies", " Porcupine " in 1992, " Mononoke Princess " in 1997, "Spirited Away" in 2001, "Howl's" in 2005 Moving Castle"... When
was writing the soundtrack for "Spirited Away", Joe Hisaishi bought a car exactly like Hayao Miyazaki on the Internet.
Once, Hisaishi Ryo drove back to the studio, approaching the studio, it suddenly started to rain, and the car stalled in the rain. At this time, Hayao Miyazaki came over with an umbrella, suddenly stopped next to the car, looked at Hisaishi with a surprised expression, and for a moment thought that his old friend had stolen the car.
In fact, this is the "preparation work" for Hisaishi's soundtrack. He wants to try to figure out the life and inner world of his friend, boss, Hayao Miyazaki.
So how does it work?
According to Miyazaki Hayao, in later cooperation, he often let Hisaishi watch unedited movie clips first, and then give the film soundtrack according to his own understanding.
And every time, Hisaishi can almost perfectly hit the mood implied by Hayao Miyazaki.
Hayao Miyazaki writes scripts and draws with ease, while Hisaishi lets Anshin compose and arrange music. This is the quietest cooperation, the most efficient cooperation, and the most tacit understanding of the director and composer in the world.
Their tacit understanding makes the picture of the animation god and the sound of the soundtrack master form a kind of perfect synchronization: like a breeze, the first taste is sweet, and the fine taste has a touch of sadness. But after watching the whole film, the aftertaste is a wonderful, warm and reassuring force.
From the summer when My Neighbor Totoro appeared, to the fantasy encounter between the girl Sophie and the magician Hal in the air; from the wonderful journey of the girl Kiki riding a broom, to the red pig Polluk and his beautiful red airship in the blue sky ...
Hisaishi and Miyazaki both explain what a real "confidant" is in and out of the painting.
In 2008, at Joe Hisaishi's concert, Hayao Miyazaki walked to the stage with flowers in hand.
In the applause of the audience, the two looked at each other with smiles on their faces but tears in their eyes. The company of
for nearly 40 years is frozen in this moment. This may be called a match made in heaven.
