"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

Ryuichi Sakamoto's costume matching led to confidence

The issue of a shortage of $1 million in production costs from overseas was also resolved through a Dutch financier. His name was credited as an executive producer, and he demanded a higher fee than other producers such as Jeremy, but it was only with that $1 million that ``Sen Meri'' was able to begin filming.

Meanwhile, the final draft of the script was completed in July. In this fifth draft, screenwriter Paul Meyersberg was brought in and the dialogue was revised. He was Jeremy's recommendation, but it was also Oshima who recommended him as a screenwriter to rework the English dialogue when Oshima first met David Bowie. He wrote the screenplays for `` The Man Who Fell to Earth '' and ` `Rusty Gold '' (1981), and at the time he was working on an adaptation of George Orwell's original ` `Nineteen Eighty-Four .'' He had previously written reviews for film magazines, and had written about several of Oshima's works, so he was a perfect choice.

In revising the Dialogue, Paul requested that the format of the conversation be revised, as well as the nuances of the words. He pointed out that in the play, there are parts where he moves on to the next story without answering questions, and all of them require clear answers. He also advised them to stop answering questions asked at the beginning as if they had remembered something after another topic continued. If there is a gap of that much time, the audience will lose track of what is going on. Hearing this, Oshima realized that when he had Robert Redford read the first draft, it might have been very difficult to understand, but if he had reviewed the dialogue early on, he would have been better able to receive overseas casting. There may have been a different development.

On July 10th, TBS's rehearsal room was rented, and costume matching for the Japanese cast was held. Ryuichi Sakamoto wore military uniform for the first time and stood in front of Oshima. He wore two kinds of military uniforms, a Kendo uniform, and a serious sword. According to assistant director Satoshi Ito, Oshima was in a good mood at a Chinese restaurant that night and was shouting, ``We won! We won!'' Any concerns that Sakamoto, who had no acting experience, would be able to play this role were dispelled by the bloodlust and sex appeal that Sakamoto showed when matching the costumes.

“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” ©Oshima Nagisa Productions

On July 30th, a farewell press conference was held at the press center in Uchisaiwaicho, which also served as a production announcement. In addition to Oshima, Sakamoto, and Takeshi, Johnny Okura, Hiroshi Mikami, and photographer Toichiro Narushima were also present. The performers are in military uniform. Traditionally, at production announcements for Japanese movies, performers would say things like, ``It was my dream to take part in director XX's work,'' but Takeshi said, ``I want to change my mind to movies.'' Until then, I'll do my best on TV.'' (Yomiuri Shimbun, Evening Edition, August 9, 1982), without saying that he would put all his heart and soul into this movie.Sakamoto also said, ``I don't really want to be an actor, However, Oshima has actively used amateurs and newcomers with no acting experience rather than professional actors, such as selecting Tadanori Yokoo as the lead role in ``Shinjuku Thief Diary.'' Perhaps he liked such comments, as he kept smiling throughout.

In this way, after five years, ``Sen Meri'' was finally about to come true. The next day, Oshima and other staff members left Japan. Shooting will begin in three weeks. However, on the unknown island, a situation beyond Oshima's imagination awaited him.

Continued in the second part !

* Click here for the first part

[Main references]

"Proposal for Embrace the Earth", Script for "In Prison of Shadows", Script for "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence","Image Forum", "Kinema Junpo", "Scenario", "GOUT", "Japanese Literature", "Literature", "Rumor 'The Truth', 'Asahi Journal', 'Weekly Myojo', 'Weekly Heibon', 'Weekly Gendai', 'Weekly Yomiuri', 'Weekly Bunshun', 'Weekly Jewelry', 'Sunday Mainichi', 'The Economist', 'Asahi Shimbun', 'Mainichi Shimbun', 'Yomiuri Shimbun' ”, “Hochi Shimbun”, “Nikkan Sports”, “Sports Nippon”, “Daily Sports”, “Cinema File Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence ” (Kodansha), “Movie Producer Talks about the Philosophy of Hits” (Masato Hara, composed by Hiroko Homma, author, Nikkei BP) ), “ The Truth after 30 years of “ Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence ”” (Tokyo News Service), “ Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (Kinokuniya Shoten), “Answer! ” (written by Nagisa Oshima, Daguerreo Publishing), “Nagisa Oshima 1960” (written by Nagisa Oshima, published by Seidosha), “Nagisa Oshima 1968” (written by Nagisa Oshima, published by Seidosha), “50 years after the war, 100 years of film” ( Nagisa Oshima (Author, Fūhōsha), ``My Suppression Lyricism'' (Nagisa Oshima, Author, Seiryu Publishing), ``Transformation of Japanese Cinema that the World is Attention to'' (Kazuaki Maruyama, Author, Kusashisha), ``Showa ``Movie Boy'' (written by Makoto Naito, Shuei Shobo), ``Ninkyo Eigaden'' (written by Hiroji Shunto and Sadao Yamane, published by Kodansha), ``The Life of an Actor'' (written by Kiyoshi Koda, published by Ginga Publishing), “Cinema Yakuza: A Generation of Movie Producers” (Author: Goro Kusakabe, Shincho Bunko), “Photographing from Cannes to the Black Market” (Author: Shohei Imamura, Kosakusha), “Movie Love – Kiichi Muto Interview Collection (1 Actor Edition)” ” (Kiichi Muto, author, Daiei Publishing) http://norisugi.com/documentary/senmeri_hiwa.html , etc.

Text: Guinea Pig Yoshida

Born in 1978. Movie critic. Another name is Ichiro Yoshida. He has written for ``Eiga Hiho'', ``Kinema Junpo'', ``Eiga Geijutsu'', ``Scenario'', etc. His books include ``Introduction to film criticism! ” (Yosensha), co-authored with “Film director Takeshi Kitano. ” (Film Art Company) and others

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"Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence"

©Oshima Nagisa Productions