©Oshima Nagisa Productions
"Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" Nagisa Oshima x David Bowie x Beat Takeshi x Ryuichi Sakamoto The path to the realization of a unique war movie - Part 2
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"Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" synopsis
In 1942, a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp on the island of Java during the war. There were the rough sergeant Hara, the British Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence who was fluent in Japanese, and the camp commander, Captain Yonoi. One day, British Army Major Celiaz is brought in, and Yonoi is fascinated by him, even though he is annoyed by his rebellious attitude.
Index
- Shaking “Sen Meri” – between cancellation and continuation
- Participation of Jeremy Thomas and TV Asahi
- New Zealand location aimed at tax avoidance
- Casting for men
- Beat Takeshi and Ryuichi Sakamoto
- Hiroshi Mikami made his long-awaited appearance.
- Ryuichi Sakamoto's costume matching led to confidence
Shaking “Sen Meri” – between cancellation and continuation
``Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence'' was originally planned to begin filming in July 1980 and be released in August the following year, but although David Bowie was cast in the lead role, it is unclear when filming will begin. It continued. The reason was the production cost.
Later, Oshima said, ``Five years ago when we started planning, we had said that Shochiku would pay for the entire amount, but halfway through, we asked them to find a place overseas that would take half of it. I will no longer participate in the production, I will only do the distribution.'' (``Sunday Mainichi'' June 19, 1983 issue) The scale of ``Senmeri'' was too large.
The proposal states that the production cost is "planned to be 800 million yen, however this may be reduced depending on the guarantees of the foreign stars," and continues, "We believe that the best form of production would be a joint venture with joint investment from three companies: a film production company, a Foreign movies distribution company, and a television company. This is because we can expect overwhelming results not only from the pooling of funds but also from fully utilizing the experience and characteristics of the three companies." It appears that they have concluded that this type of joint production is the ideal way to spread the risks of a "blockbuster" and create a work that can make it into the international market.
Herald Ace, which would later become a driving force behind the independent cinema boom, was founded in 1981. Hara Masato, a publicity man at Herald Pictures who had promoted numerous Foreign movies , including Apocalypse Now (1979), started the new company as a sort of spin-off. At the time, Hara's concept was, "I want to go beyond traditional advertising and connect talent with the market, connect the film industry with non-film companies, and connect Japan with other countries." It was at this time that Oshima asked for his cooperation.
However, after reading the script, Hara seriously advised him to give up on the project. Oshima estimated that the production cost would be 800 million yen, even if it is a conservative estimate, and he also judged that it would be difficult to raise the production costs for a non-commercial work that takes place only inside a concentration camp. Oshima was looking for someone overseas to cover half of the production costs, so Hara introduced him to someone looking for a production partner in Europe, but the road was difficult. However, things begin to change when Oshima begins to woo David Bowie on his own.
In addition, Herald Ace will be releasing Nicolas Roeg's Jealousy (1979) as the first film in its mini-theater roadshow, and has made contact with Jeremy Thomas, the film's producer. While working together, he expressed interest in the project for ``Sen Meri''. This is because director Nicolas Roeg's previous film was ``The Man Who Fell to Earth'' starring David Bowie, and for Jeremy, who had seen ``Boy,'' ``Ritual,'' ``Corrida de Love,'' and ``Ghost of Love.'' Oshima's new work starring Bowie was both interesting and full of charm.
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