"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

movies and labor

At the same time that ``Sen Meri'' was scheduled to be submitted to Cannes, a strange article was published in ``Daily Sports'' (February 1, 1983). It is said that K, who disappeared on Rarotonga Island, married a local woman and is now living there. The article seems to support what Oshima jokingly said when he returned to Japan, ``Maybe he found a nice woman on the island and is doing well.'' However, when K's wife protested through her lawyer, the reporter who wrote it came back to apologize. That's what it means. Later, the reporter admitted that it was a false report, saying, ``It was a complete mistake on my part to write without checking the facts'' (Rumor no Shinsou, November 1983 issue).

However, as this matter became a hot topic again, a TV station came up with a plan to have Oshima and Narushima face off against K's wife. On February 14, 1983, the Latte section of the newspaper included the introduction of "Look Look Hello" (Nippon Television Network), which would be broadcast from 8:35 a.m., with the caption, "Exclusive! A heartbroken wife complains about Nagisa Oshima!" Give me back my husband! ! ""a. It was not possible to confirm the content of the broadcast, but according to an article at the time, ``During the showdown between Director Oshima and ____san (wife's name), the difference in TV familiarity was clearly evident, and ____san remained silent. There was no noticeable or fruitful interaction.'' (Weekly Heibon, March 30, 1984 issue). Narushima, who was scheduled to appear on the show, informed him of his cancellation at the last minute and sent a message to the program saying, ``I trust K.'' However, it is easy to imagine that if only Oshima, who had not been informed of K's disappearance for four days, appeared on the show, the story would not be concrete. Immediately after being informed of this, he instructed the local police to report it, so he fulfilled his duty. In that case, when Oshima criticized him for his thoughtless remarks upon his return to Japan, he would merely reply, ``That was a joke,'' and there would be no hope for a ``fruitful exchange.''

After appearing on TV, K's wife traveled to Rarotonga again on February 20th to conduct a search at her own expense, and returned to Japan on March 12th, but again no trace was found. If you look at Rarotonga on Google Earth, you'll see that most of the island is covered in jungle, with only towns and residences along the coast. Nearby, there are plants that are as tall as my waist. This landscape probably hasn't changed much 38 years ago. Even today, people sometimes go missing on small mountains that are the size of hiking trails, and after several days of searching, they are sometimes found in places they had overlooked. I'm not sure what the reason was, but even if for some reason it had fallen off the road in the grass, I don't think I would have been able to find it. That's why I regret the delay in the initial response.

This problem continued to weigh on Oshima for several years after the release of Senmeri. K's wife later complained to the production company and Oshima, saying, ``They have neglected their duty to protect the safety of the staff, and I cannot accept the idea that as long as filming goes smoothly, it doesn't matter what happens to people's lives.'' Shimbun (November 22, 1983) and filed a lawsuit seeking damages of 11.3 million yen. In response, Oshima said, ``Our staff worked together with the local police to hunt in the mountains, but in the end, we were unable to find them.The police's conclusion was that the disappearance was not a crime or an accident, but rather that the disappearance was due to personal circumstances.'' Although I sympathize with Mr. ○○ (K's wife), the production side is sorry for the inconvenience that a 45-year-old (at the time) adult disappeared before work. "I don't think they should be held responsible," he argued.

Over the next several years, the court case became a matter of interpretation of the employment contract, such as whether it was with Oshima Productions or with a local subsidiary in New Zealand, but it was possible that this was an unfamiliar collaborative film that had not anticipated such a situation. However, this also brings to light the issue of ``film and labor'' that continues to the present day. It is unclear whether issues such as whether excessive labor was being imposed, whether mental health care was taken care of, and what the health and safety management systems of staff were like were examined, but at the time, 24-year-olds were still on the job. This was an era when the idea of ​​selfless service was the norm, and compared to the sympathy for K's wife from the foreign cast and staff who came to the set with their families, the reaction from the Japanese side was as if it were just a job. Am I the only one who thinks that the attitude of blaming him for disappearing without fulfilling his goals is obvious? I think comments like ``Maybe he found a good woman on the island and are doing well'' and ``The production side is a nuisance'' are too light words to make towards a staff member whose life or death is unknown.

At the time, and now, no one involved has said anything about this issue, which has been widely reported in newspapers, weekly magazines, and on TV. Tom Conti, the only actor who played the role of Lawrence, was interviewed for the ``Sen Meri'' documentary program produced by WOWOW in 2014, and at the end of the interview, which was later published as a book, he said the following.

``There was another thing that I cannot forget in another sense, and I have no doubt that this was the case for everyone involved in this production.That is when one of the staff members went missing on Rarotonga Island right before filming. He still hasn't been found. It was a tragedy. I felt a deep sadness for his wife and The Truth ."

"Sen Meri" Cannes Rhapsody