The Face of Time - POV - Aarhus Universitet

A Danish Journal of Film Studies 49
An interview with David Greenspan on Bean Cake
Richard Raskin
I understand that Bean Cake was inspired by the Japanese folktale, The
Red Bridal, first introduced to the West by Lafcadio Hearn in 1894. What
was it about that folktale that captured your interest in the first place?
I always identify with stories about outsiders. But there were two
moments in this story that captured my interest right away. The
moment that Taro says "bean cake" instead of "the Emperor" was
sublime. This act of childish naïve sincerity becomes an effortless
and outrageous act of rebellion. When I read this part I just thought
that Taro's answer was such a beautiful way to mock the ridiculousness
of any time a group tries to impose an extreme obedience to a
nation or religion or way of thinking. I also thought that the young
girl's final line, "Do you love bean cakes more than me?" was so
perfectly cute and smart. She teases and flirts with Taro and mocks
the teacher's ideology in one breath.
Why did you choose to set your own adaptation in the Japan of the 1930s,
rather than some other period?
At first I wanted to set my film in the exact same period and rural
location of the original tale. I was for some time stuck on a literal
adaptation of the setting and the story. My intention was to shoot in
Japan or failing to build a set of a rural Japanese school (circa 1850s)
on a sound stage in LA. When I realized that either of these two
choices was going to be prohibitively expensive for a student film, I
had my first realization about the need to compromise or adapt
according to your resources as long as the heart of the story you are