"In Japan today, all forms of expression, beginning with images, serve only as either time-killing entertainment for those without occupation, or as momentary respite for those who are afraid of pain. People desire either real scandals amplified into rawness, ...or, the illusion of beautifully adapted fictions. It is true of me. Unable to create appropriate relationships. I escape into a fictional world, constructed on a fantasy of daily life. Even this film, when completed will become a device to deliver a certain amount of stimulation devoid of surprises, and a measure of time spent in peace. Who wants images beyond that? Who needs them? By then, I had abandoned her as a visual construct. i didn't want to film anything. As long as she was present, I didn't need to make a film. I had always been entranced with the idea of being madly loved, and loving madly. And yet this was a stupendous burden, exhausting. Could I really bear it?"