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

The whole story of Kurosawa's version of "Tokyo Olympics"

During his visit to the Rome Olympics, Kurosawa began talking to those around him about his plans for the film ``Tokyo Olympics.'' For example, regarding the torch relay, ``The torch carried from Athens will land in Hiroshima.It will spend the night in Hiroshima, and a peace prayer ceremony will be held here to begin the domestic relay.This is the Olympic Games symbol of peace. "It's meaningful," he says (Yukan Yomi Shimbun, November 24, 1963), and is typical of the director who depicted the horrors of the atomic and hydrogen bombs in " Record of Living Things ," announcing his plan to link Hiroshima and the Olympics.

Yoichi Matsue, who was working as an assistant, had also heard of ideas related to the opening ceremony.

``I was thinking about lighting a fire on Mount Olympus in Greece, having that flame carried around the world by jet plane, and the moment it was ignited in Tokyo, all the countries of the world would go up in flames at once.At the same time, the stadium's electric lights would light up all over the world. ``No More Hiroshima'' will be posted on the bulletin board.Then, ``Ode to Joy'' from the Ninth Symphony will be played from the speakers installed in the balloons in the stadium.'' (` `In Search of Akira Kurosawa'' by Yuichiro Nishimura/Kinema Junpo) company)

Also, regarding the movement of the athletes from each country as they leave after the opening ceremony, ``They don't go home one after the other, and there isn't just one entrance and exit, so at the end they turn around like a whirlpool, and there are several exits. I want it to quickly fade away from the beginning,'' he is said to have said (`` Isetsu: Akira Kurosawa '', Bunshun Bunko).

Regarding competitions, I was trying to photograph the 100m track and field event from directly in front of the goal with a telephoto lens. He said, ``I want to capture the human energy that explodes in a short period of ten seconds from the front in close-up.If there are no photographers in Japan who can do such camera work, I will bring one in from abroad.'' (Yukan Yomi Shimbun) February 6, 1963).

For the closing ceremony, they are also presenting a different direction than before. According to the memories of Yukiaki Iwata, the organizing committee's head of communications, ``It's no good for athletes from each country to exit through the same exit.It would be more dramatic if they were to disperse little by little and go up to the audience seats, go through the aisles, and exit from above.'' "I think it's going to be very exciting," he is said to have said (Asahi Shimbun Evening Edition, September 22, 1984).

When we collect these fragmentary ideas of Kurosawa, a certain question should come to mind. Although Kurosawa, who is in charge of the documentary film, is in charge of filming the competitions, there are separate directors for the opening and closing ceremonies, but Kurosawa's idea is to intervene in the overall production of the ceremonies. In fact, according to the Sankei Shimbun (September 2, 1996), Kurosawa told Matsue, ``There may be many people who have different opinions about the No More Hiroshima idea.'' Nowadays, there is a rumor that Kurosawa was even scheduled to direct the opening ceremony, but there is no such story in the press at the time.

However, as Secretary General Tabata and Kurosawa met many times at meetings, they became good friends and started drinking together, and from the perspective of Iwata, the above-mentioned general relations manager, ``They were on good terms with each other.'' (Asahi Shimbun Evening Edition) If we take into account that Michio Ito, who was scheduled to direct the ceremony, suddenly passed away in 1961, it is possible that Kurosawa could have played a role in Tabata's chest size. It cannot be said that there is no possibility that he was in that position.

In fact, when Kurosawa wanted to photograph the 100m track and field race directly in front of the goal with a telephoto lens, he requested that a hole be dug near the goal to install the camera, and Tabata asked if it was possible. He was trying his best to listen to Kurosawa's requests, so much so that he started considering it. However, this does not mean that he accepted everything Kurosawa said. Regarding Kurosawa's unique idea of ​​catching the torch at the site where the atomic bomb was dropped and lighting it overnight, Tabata said, ``I thought it was a great idea, but at that time, the torch had already been promised to visit Asian countries, so I had no idea what to do. He is said to have replied, ``It's a great idea, but I can't make any guarantees about the torch relay.'' However, it is not hard to imagine that Tabata, who could immediately answer whether something was possible or not, would have been a reliable presence for Kurosawa.

After returning from Rome after his tour, Kurosawa submitted a several hundred page report to the organizing committee, estimated the necessary equipment and number of staff, and began preparing a budget. The person who actually did the work was Hiroshi Nezu, an executive who had been seconded to Kurosawa Productions from Toho.

It required 380,000 meters of color film, 70 cameras, 120 cameramen, and a total of 1,500 staff members, and the production cost was 520 million yen. However, this number would eventually cause a huge stir.

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[References]

``Kinema Junpo'' ``Scenario'' ``Cinemagraphy'' ``Another Theory of Akira Kurosawa'' ``Akira Kurosawa Collection'' ``People Talking About Akira Kurosawa'' ``Shozen Imai's Work - A Life with a Screen'' ``Tasashi Imai's Movie Life'' ``Kurosawa Movies'' ``Current Document Ran'' ``Akira Kurosawa: The World of ``Ran'''' ``The Legend of Kurosawa: His Dreams and Will'' ``Akira Kurosawa and Red Beard'' Document: The Culmination of Human Love'' ``Kinema Junpo Bessatsu Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune Two Japanese ”, “World Film Writers 3 Akira Kurosawa”, “Biography of Akira Kurosawa”, “Toad Oil: Something Like an Autobiography”, “Complete Edition of Kon Ichikawa's Films”, “Tokyojin”, “Bessatsu Kinema Junpo Tokyo Olympics”, “In Search of Akira Kurosawa” ``The Giant and the Boy: Akira Kurosawa's Women'' ``My Travels in the Art World'' ``Complete Works of Akira Kurosawa'' ``Large System of Akira Kurosawa'' ``My Traveling Diary'' ``Ningen Address Roku'' ``Review of Tabata Politics: A Lifetime in the Olympics ``The man who dedicated the 1940 Tokyo Olympics from bid to return'' ``Asahi Shimbun'', ``Yomiuri Shimbun'', ``Mainichi Shimbun'', ``Tokyo Shimbun'', ``Hochi Shimbun'', ``Miyako Shimbun'', ``Sankei Shimbun'', ``Weekly Shincho'' ``Weekly Gendai'' ``Weekly Yomiuri'' ``Bungei Shunju'' ``Bungei Asahi'' ``Ushio'' ``Bungei'' ``Chuokoron'' ``Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' ``High School Days'' ``Tokyo Olympic Tokyo Organizing Committee Newsletter'' ``Tokyo Metropolitan Government “Olympic Times” “Distribution White Paper for the Full-length Documentary Film “Tokyo Olympics””

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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