Why Akira Kurosawa's version of the ``Tokyo Olympics'' never materialized - Part 1

“Humanity has a dream every four years. Is it okay for this created peace to end with a dream?”

These are the words shown at the end of the movie ``Tokyo Olympics'' (1965). Director Kon Ichikawa expressed his hopes and fears for peace by directly depicting the fragility of peace that the Olympics symbolize. In fact, the Olympics have a history of being used to promote national prestige, but were interrupted by wars.

The film ``Tokyo Olympics,'' which chronicled the 18th Summer Olympic Games held from October 10 to 24, 1964, was released on March 20 of the following year and attracted a record audience of 19.5 million people. By making full use of the techniques that Ichikawa has cultivated through feature films, this work has become a work that stands out with a gorgeous visual beauty not found in traditional documentary films. However, Ichikawa was not the director from the beginning. Preparations had been underway for several years with Akira Kurosawa scheduled to direct. Kurosawa also envisioned using the Olympics to create a work that powerfully appealed for peace, and devised a groundbreaking production. At the time, Kurosawa had been making successive masterpieces that could be called the pinnacle of entertainment films, such as Yojimbo (61), Tsubaki Sanjuro (62), and Heaven and Inferno (63). What kind of movie is ``Tokyo Olympics'' and why was it not made possible?

The title ``Tokyo Olympics'' was recommended by Kon Ichikawa on June 29, 1964 from among 79,000 public submissions, and was unanimously decided by the Olympic Organizing Committee. The names vary, and even when Kurosawa was the director, it was not called the ``Tokyo Olympics.'' For convenience, this article uses the name ``Kurosawa's Tokyo Olympics''.

Index

• The movie “Olympia” and the forbidden relationship
• Akira Kurosawa talks about his aspirations for an Olympic documentary film
• What did Kurosawa see in Rome?
• The whole story of Kurosawa's version of "Tokyo Olympics"

The movie “Olympia” and the forbidden relationship

It was in 1930 that the International Olympic Committee mandated the production of Olympic documentary films, but Akira Kurosawa's relationship with Olympic films dates back to 1940. The Summer Olympics, the first in the East, were supposed to be held in Tokyo that year, but the event was canceled as the Sino-Japanese War became a stalemate. However, the Olympics were gaining popularity in movie theaters. The film ``Olympia'' (38), which chronicled the 1936 Berlin Olympics, was released in Japan as a two-part series, `` A Celebration of Ethnicity '' and `` A Celebration of Beauty .''

Actress Hideko Takamine, who was 16 years old at the time, also watched this documentary film in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, where her starring role, `` Uma '' (1941), was filmed. ``I was moved by Hideko Maehata splashing water on the screen, and I was just interested in Hitler's facial expressions with a mustache that are inserted throughout the documentary film.'' (`` My Passing Diary '' by Hideko Takamine/Bunshun Bunko) Takamine recalls that the person he saw the movie with at the movie theater was a young Akira Kurosawa, who was the assistant director of ``Horse.'' As a popular star and an assistant director with a promising future, the people around him looked at him harshly, and according to Takamine, ``When we went to see the ``Berlin Olympics Documentary'' together, it could at most be called a date.'' It must have been one of the few memorable movies for the two of them, but ``For the young Akira Kurosawa, this great documentary film must have been a strong shock, as he walked back from the movie theater in town to his hotel. He remained silent and looked down at his feet, paying no attention to my presence.''

After the release of ``Horse'', which took three years of long filming, the two were busy working at the same film company and did not have much time to see each other, but once in a while they met at Kinuta's Toho studio. It is said that they enjoyed a fleeting encounter in the Imperial Forest (a forest owned by the Imperial Family) behind the quiet and deserted photo studio. Senkichi Taniguchi, who was Kurosawa's assistant director colleague, answered an interview with Sankei Shimbun (August 28, 1996) that Kurosawa asked him if he had a place to secretly meet with Takamine, and the two of them decided to use a room in a relative's house. It has been revealed that it was provided to

According to Takamine's ``My Travel Diary,'' around the fall of 1944, Kurosawa rented a work room near Takamine's house. For Takamine, who lives with his mother, who is known as a stage mom, this means that he now has a perfect place for secret meetings in the neighborhood. However, while they were meeting in their apartment, her mother broke in on her, and an article appeared in the newspaper saying, ``Akira Kurosawa and Hideko Takamine are engaged.''

The engagement between Takamine and Kurosawa was actually reported in the spring of 1944, not in the fall. The article was published with the following content:

``Toho's Hideko Takamine, who is taking a rest after appendix surgery, has now arranged a deal with director Kajiro Yamamoto to become engaged to assistant director Akira Kurosawa, and the wedding will be held after Kurosawa becomes director.'' (Yomi Shimbun Evening Edition, 1941) April 1st)

On the same day, the Miyako Shimbun featured a photo of Takamine and the headline, ``Congratulations Deco-chan.'' This article has more details. Noting that Kurosawa served as an assistant director for ``Horse,'' he said, ``The fact that he continued to take extraordinary care of Takamine from start to finish, not only on location but also during set shooting, cannot fail to resonate with the feelings of a young girl.'' Director Yamamoto, who sensed this, immediately asked both of them about what was on their minds, and since both of them wanted to do so, he consulted with the executives of the company and the matter was discussed.

Hiromichi Horikawa, a fellow assistant director, witnessed Kurosawa being confused by these articles. The night before, Horikawa had drunk with Kurosawa and had him stay at Kajiro Yamamoto's house.The next morning, ``Yama-san and Kuro - san were sitting in front of the newspaper with serious faces.'' Chikuma Bunko) I remember his appearance. Does that mean it's the morning of April 2nd?

After that, Takamine was placed under house arrest by his mother for a week, during which time a countermeasure was taken with the help of her mother, Iwao Mori, who was the managing director of Toho at the time, and Yamamoto, Kurosawa's mentor. (Newspaper) (The fact that he is taking a rest after having appendix surgery, which was reported in the magazine, may be an excuse for this house arrest.) Eventually, this article appeared again.

``Hideko Takamine, who was rumored to be marrying Toho's assistant director Kurosawa, rolls her eyes and says indignantly, ``I'm not kidding, I'm not kidding.'' She runs around trying to clear up the rumors.'' (Yomi Shimbun Evening Edition) (April 13, 1941)

Two days later, the ``Miyako Shimbun'' (April 15, 1941), with the headline ``A Sad Story of a Popular Person: Deco-chan's Marriage Finally Called Bankrupt,'' delved into the truth behind the dissolution of the engagement. ``It was the Takamine family, especially my mother, who was devastated,'' he said, indicating that his mother was involved in the dissolution of the engagement.``Of course I want them to have a good marriage, but I'm only 18, so it's too early.'' Takamine's mother, who was in a state of excitement, told Takamine to retire from the film industry. It is said that he lost his breath when he did so. As a result, ``Kurosawa became the sole director for Takamine's next ``Awa no Odoriko,'' and the plans to make Yojiro Ishizaka's work were all canceled,'' Kurosawa's directorial debut. The author indicated that a movie starring Takamine had been planned, and that ``Director Yamamoto also felt uneasy and called off the engagement.''

Thus, their faint love came to an end, but The Day After 1960, 20 years later, Kurosawa received an offer to direct an Olympic movie, and Takamine, in a strange way, would eventually become involved in the movie ``Tokyo Olympics.'' , the two of them have no way of knowing yet.

Akira Kurosawa talks about his aspirations for an Olympic documentary film