Japanese director Sabu’s thriller “Arrested Memory” will premiere at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals. The film, which took nearly two decades to come to fruition, features Ethan Juan as a police detective who loses his memory.
Sabu stated he “was confident that the script had something special, so I always believed that it would eventually be made. It was really a matter of waiting for the right opportunity and the right timing.” He believes the final version of the film possesses “more tension and a greater sense of poignancy” than his original 2007 vision. After stalled attempts to film in Germany, Korea, the U.S., and Japan, “Arrested Memory” was ultimately shot in Taiwan with a cast and crew drawn from Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, and France.
The premise of a detective losing his memory allowed Sabu to rework the character of Lee over the years. Originally conceived as a corrupt officer, Lee was reimagined as a respected, judo-trained officer. “Originally, Lee was a person with a strong sense of justice…However, over the course of 20 years, he lost something important…and eventually he became a corrupt police officer,” Sabu explained. “Now…I thought it would be more convincing and interesting to show someone who was once trusted…gradually returning to his more innocent, authentic self after losing his memory.” Sabu added judo to the character to emphasize Lee’s humanity, showing him protecting people through action rather than words.
” He aimed to observe the protagonist’s experiences and how they shape his perceptions. Sabu specifically cast Ethan Juan for his ability to deliver a serious performance, believing that tension and release are key to his comedies. “The more seriously an actor plays a situation, the more humor can emerge from it,” he said, adding that Juan’s performance further developed the character.
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