Mamoru Hosoda explains why Hamlet is everywhere this year

village It’s experiencing something of a renaissance in 2025. This year’s edition of the Toronto International Film Festival featured three different takes on the idea, including Chloe Zhao’s adaptation of the play’s inspiration and an Anil Kariya setting in contemporary London. But the most widespread version came from belle Director Mamoru HosodaWho turned Shakespeare’s revenge story into a fantasy epic called Scarletcomplete with time travel and dragons.

Hosoda likens this meeting point to the late 1940s and early 1950s, when famous filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Orson Welles put forward their own ideas about… Macbeth. “Maybe there was something going on in a larger social context that made these filmmakers tap into the universal story that… Macbeth Hosoda told me villageHe believes the revenge story feels particularly timely given the constant spate of global conflicts over the past few years. “Watching all of this unfold made the world feel like a hell-like place,” he says.

That’s part of what inspired the story Scarletin which the titular lead is a princess who avenges her father’s death. It’s a quest that leads her to a wasteland known as the “Otherworld” that exists somewhere between life and death.

In a conversation before the film’s theatrical release – It arrives in select theaters December 12ahead of a wider release on February 6th – talks about inspiration from classic literature, the importance of optimism, and leaving the story open to interpretation.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Edge: with belleI know you wanted to create a copy of beauty and the beast For a long time before this movie. Was the situation similar with village?

Mamoru Hosoda: Shakespeare is something I remember reading in high school and college, and maybe one day I thought it would be nice to do something based on classic literature. But I did not want to overstep my bounds in terms of interpreting something that is so highly regarded in the literary world. That being said, when I started working on… ScarletI knew I wanted to have this revenge story. And then looking at the literary landscape that really explores the idea of ​​revenge, I think village It is one of the originals. So this is where the idea comes from village entered into force.

What is the theme of revenge that fascinated you and made you want to explore it? Scarlet?

I started this project about four years ago. At that time we had just gotten through the coronavirus, and the world seemed to be heading towards a more peaceful place, just as all these conflicts were starting to emerge around the world. Watching all of this unfold almost made the world feel like a hell-like place. I think there’s a lot of hate you can see. The only response to that hatred is revenge, as different countries and peoples take revenge on each other. So it’s become a very popular topic, and it’s an issue that we really need to look at.

How do you go from that to a story that also takes place in the afterlife and has time travel and dragons?

You’re right, V village There is no time travel. However, his father appears as a ghost, so ghosts exist in this world. originally villageThe father’s ghost returns and says, “Revenge must be taken.” So I said to myself Well, what if Hamlet’s father asked for forgiveness instead? This is where I started. If I had a daughter, which I do, and I was trying to pass something on to her, I wouldn’t want my daughter to give up her entire life in this pursuit of revenge. Maybe I will ask her to forgive and find a different way forward.

How it unfolds in context Scarletit puts her on a different path. If Hamlet had faced the same situation, it would have opened up more questions than answers, and it would have put Hamlet through greater conflict than he experienced. This is what I really want to explore. Not only is the quest for vengeance driven by blood, but when you’re presented with a different choice that might be hard to swallow, how will the character react?

The ending is much more upbeat than the rest of the film. Did you find it difficult to balance the bloodthirsty revenge story present throughout most of the film with a brilliant ending?

I think it’s easy for us as humans to get caught up in this idea of ​​revenge. It is very difficult to escape from it once it is ingrained in your mind. In this film, Hijri offers a different perspective, which leads to the change in crimson. I think Hijiri changes Scarlet’s thought process even by a small amount, and this is where the breakdown can finally begin.

Maybe in the context of a movie, it would be really good: You’re watching this character, and they’ve been wronged, and they’re getting revenge, and it’s all right and done. But if you think about it from a much broader perspective, well, it’s great that this character takes revenge, but what about those who now feel like they’ve been wronged? It really starts this cycle. This is where it goes from a revenge story to a tragedy.

So, in terms of balancing that, the immigration order tips the scales towards having a different outlet for these feelings of revenge, which can be applied to something less destructive.

Your films have explored all kinds of settings across fantasy, sci-fi, and even transformation. What was it like trying to imagine what the afterlife would be like?

I looked at Dante Divine Comedy To try to find inspiration. In that story, Dante is alive but traveling through the different layers of Hell, thus being able to meet all these famous dead, no matter what era they existed in. I thought about this a lot, and it was like by going to this different plane Dante was able to travel through time. Here lies the idea of ​​this world Scarlet appeared. This is how Scarlet is able to interact with Hijiri, to meet someone from a different timeline who will somehow affect her fate. I almost see this land of the dead as a means of time travel.

I know the afterlife is supposed to be an in-between place, so I’m curious why you chose this darker version of Dante’s afterlife to represent that?

While filming this film, I did a lot of location research. I traveled to different places in the Middle East, such as Jordan and Israel, countries that believe in one God. I feel like this pilgrimage, or traveling through extremely harsh conditions to reach some sort of redemption, there’s this interesting dynamic where the payoff becomes almost greater because of how harsh the conditions are. The other place I went was Death Valley in the United States. Likewise, there’s almost this spiritual feel to the land, which is why it seemed so appropriate for the film.

The dragon was one of my favorite parts of the movie. It is very majestic and ancient. I was wondering how that came about, and how you wanted to use it to advance the story?

There’s really no explanation for the dragon in this movie. Why fly across this heavenly ocean? Why is it full of arrows, swords, and any kind of weapon you can think of? I think there are many ways to interpret it and it has been intentionally left open.

Was this your approach to the film as a whole, leaving things open to interpretation?

I think so. If this were a limited series on Netflix and I had 12 episodes to play with, we could have gone into more detail. But thinking about taking people on a two-hour trip, there’s not a lot of room to expand into different parts of the world. I think the main point here is Scarlett’s journey for revenge, and her fall into this world between life and death. As a general rule, much of the film may have been left open to interpretation.