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

Akira Kurosawa talks about his aspirations for an Olympic documentary film

On May 26, 1959, at the International Olympic Committee General Assembly, Tokyo was chosen to host the Summer Olympics in five years' time. There are various theories as to how Akira Kurosawa was asked to make a documentary film of the tournament. According to Kinema Junpo (early October 1963 issue), in the fall of 1959, Masaru Tabata, the secretary general of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, became the managing director of Nippon Eiga Shinsha (Nichiei), which produced newsreels and documentary films. -Confidentially approached Nobuyo Horiba about making a documentary film. Horiba came up with the idea of ​​having Akira Kurosawa direct the film in order to make it a hot topic that would set it apart from the usual documentary films. Since Nichiei is an affiliated company of Toho, Horiba consulted with Iwao Mori, vice president of Toho at the time, and asked him to act as a bridge to Kurosawa.

However, in the recollections of those who were close to the fields, the nuances are slightly different.

"When it came to who would produce the documentary film of the Tokyo Olympics, there was no one other than director Akira Kurosawa, winner of the Grand Prix at the Venice International Film Festival, and Mr. Tabata had set his sights on this from an early stage. (Omitted) 1960 In April (the year of the Rome Olympics), Mr. Tabata went to Toho and visited Managing Director Masumi Fujimoto, requested him to do so, and decided to ask Director Kurosawa to consult him.'' “Otoko ” written by Tetsuo Mokuyo / Kokusho Publishing Association)

When this becomes a retrospective of Toho Forest, the circumstances during that time become even more different.

“When it was announced that the Olympic Games would be held in Tokyo in 1960, I realized that Toho should work together to make this film into a movie. I wanted to use Akira Kurosawa for the work and make it a world-class work, so I consulted Masaru Tabata, a Japanese Olympic organizer, and Mr. Tabata was all for it, so I thought we should do it. Mr. Tabata became even more enthusiastic than I was.'' ( My Journey through the Art World, written by Iwao Mori/Aogabo)

Furthermore, there is even a theory that ``It is said that it was Towa Eiga president Kawakita (Nagamasa) who recommended director Kurosawa'' (Hochi Shimbun, July 8, 1960), suggesting that Kurosawa should be used in the Olympic film. Was it Nobuyo Horiba, Seiji Tabata, Iwao Mori, or Nagamasa Kawakita who came up with the idea? The story is similar to Kurosawa's ` ` Rashomon '' (50), which was based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa's ``Yabu no Naka'', but the above-mentioned ``Kinema Junpo'' mentions the beginning of documentary film production near the end of 1959. A social gathering was held in which the request to direct Kurosawa was officially decided, and at this meeting Tabata was chided by those around him and told him to ``just ask your own child,'' as he did not know Kurosawa very well. An episode is written, but its authenticity is uncertain.

Now, to ensure accuracy, let's follow the developments based on newspaper reports from the time. On July 7, 1960, Juichi Tsushima, chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, met at the Ochanomizu Athletic Association, Tabata, and Kurosawa, who had just finished filming The Bad Guys Sleep Better (60). Kurosawa's appointment as director was officially announced in front of the media. At this seat, Kurosawa said, ``I've always loved sports, and I wanted to capture the impressive bodies of top athletes on camera'' (Tokyo Shimbun Evening Edition, July 7, 1960), and ``When I think of the Olympics, I think of them as the best in the world.'' I'm looking forward to it being a rewarding job because we'll have all the actors for the role," he said (Evening Edition Mainichi Shimbun, July 7, 1960), expressing his aspirations. On the other hand, when asked by a reporter about the ``Ethnic Festival,'' he answered, ``I would like to use it as a reference, but rather than making it a demonstration of one ethnicity, I would like to create something that is based on the spirit of the Olympics.'' (Hochi) Shimbun (July 8, 1960), he showed his desire to create a new, future-oriented Olympic film.

This year also marked the beginning of a new era for Kurosawa. Kurosawa Productions, which was established the previous year, was made independent by Toho, who was frustrated by the fact that ``The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress '' (1958) significantly exceeded schedule and budget, and from now on Kurosawa Productions will be produced in partnership with Kurosawa Productions. By doing so, they were supposed to take on risks. However, the production costs were to be fully funded by Toho as before, and three films were to be produced in two years, and the profits were to be split 50/50 between Toho and Kurosawa Productions, so they could produce movies quickly, cheaply, and profitably. The idea was that Kurosawa Productions would make money if they made them, but if they made a film like ``The Bad Guys Sleep Better'', which did not do well at the box office, Kurosawa Productions would immediately fall into the red. At a time when there were also talks of co-productions with foreign countries, directing an Olympic film was a national project that was desirable from Kurosawa Productions' management standpoint.

By the way, Kurosawa said at this press conference, ``By the time of the Tokyo Olympics, technology will have advanced in many ways, and the expressions will have become richer.I have no idea what movies will look like four years from now.'' That's about it.'' (Yukan Yomi Shimbun, August 4, 1960). At this point, 15 years had passed since the end of the war, and during that time, movies had changed from black and white to color, large-scale movies were also produced using CinemaScope, and movies were being reborn one after another into new formats. For a film director working in a film company, it was essential to be exposed to this new technology.

Kurosawa had just introduced CinemaScope for the first time in ``The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress,'' but he had not yet begun shooting in color. However, for the Olympic film, ``There will be several types, including large and small screen, color, and black and white'' (Asahi Shimbun Evening Edition), revealing that they plan to make a movie in a different format. As a result, Kurosawa's first color film had to wait until 10 years later, ``Dodokaden'' (1970), but if Kurosawa's version of ``Tokyo Olympics'' had been realized, it would have been his first color film. There is no doubt that it had become.

Even so, trying to make a movie in at least four different formats is a complex task, as you can imagine. This means that the same photographic material is not simply converted into color or monochrome at the development stage, but is shot separately for CinemaScope size, standard size, color, and monochrome at the time of shooting. , even though the structure would be the same, since Kurosawa was very particular about editing, the details might have been quite different since he would have made four films in different formats. If this had been realized, I think it would have produced powerful images that are typical of Kurosawa, not only in color but also in black and white.

What did Kurosawa see in Rome?