"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

Famous shots created by equipment accidents

Speaking of ``Sen Meri,'' what comes to mind is the cut where Celias rubs his cheek against Yonoi. This photo was taken on September 15th. It was filmed from three angles, but only the cut where Ryuichi Sakamoto's face is seen from behind David Bowie's back is seen as a close-up.When the developed film was later previewed, an abnormality occurred in the rotation of the film for some reason at this moment, and the shot was shot for one second. Only 8 of the 24 frames of footage were usable. This is not a rare accident. With the disappearance of K, the lighting director recommended by Narushima, the cinematographer, and equipment trouble during the most important cuts, I wonder if ``Sen Meri'' was a cursed shoot for Narushima. In fact, Narushima fell ill during filming and was so exhausted that he had to be hospitalized after returning to Japan, but considering that the beauty of this film's images continues to be talked about even today, he was mentally ill. It seems that he must have used all his strength as a cinematographer to shoot this film, even though he was near his physical limits.

Fortunately, or rather as a last resort, by stretching out the frames of the film that could be used, an effect similar to that of the frame cut on the cheek was created. In Alfred Hitchcock's `` Rear Window '', this unforgettable cut, similar to when Grace Kelly kisses James Stewart, suddenly cuts to frame, looks as if it was done on purpose. However, it was a credit to the injuries caused by the accident.

“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” ©Oshima Nagisa Productions

During the filming of this scene, Hiroshi Mikami, who was 20 years old at the time, was the one who supported Yonoi from behind, who had fainted due to being cut in the cheek, and then furiously jumped at Celias. Three years ago, Oshima was chosen to play the main role of a young terrorist in `` Japan's Mastermind '', which Oshima was scheduled to direct at Toei, but the project went bankrupt due to Oshima's withdrawal, and this was the moment when Oshima was to appear in a long-awaited film. At first, he was left with a role that only had one line in the script, but after Shuji Terayama's intercession he changed his mind and headed to Rarotonga, where he had been waiting for three weeks for this moment.

Mikami later said, ``It was a lot of fun. I've never experienced anything that surpassed that.'' (``Love of Movies: Actor Edition''). As I was intently observing the shooting scene and watching Tom Conti's detailed performance as Lawrence, Oshima said, ``You'll learn a lot.Japanese actors aren't able to pull off smart acting like this very often.'' Forum" May 1983 issue). Mikami was not yet ready to pursue a career as an actor at this point, but after this work he began to make great strides as an actor. After filming, Mikami parted ways with the film crew to go on a trip to New Zealand at his own expense.

From Rarotonga to Auckland ~ Crank up