``Yatsu Tomb Village'' (1977 edition) What happened in the midst of the Yokomizo boom and Kadokawa films? [That's when movies were born Vol.3 middle part]

Shochiku's film "The Village of the Eight Graves," in which Atsumi Kiyoshi played the detective Kindaichi Kosuke for the only time in his life, was the largest-scale production of all the many Yokomizo films he made, and it also stands out as being his biggest hit. However, it was never made into a series, and it is much less well-received than the Kindaichi series directed by Ichikawa Kon, which was made in the same era.

Why did this distorted situation come about? There is something about it that cannot be explained simply by the inverse proportion between box office figures and reviews. The mystery will become clear if we take a closer look at the process from planning to filming and release. In the first part, we focused on episodes from the planning stage, but in the second part, we will look at what was happening with "The Village of the Eight Graves" as the Yokomizo boom was finally heating up and filming was finally about to begin.

Click here for the first part

Index

• Screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto
• The origin of "The Village of Eight Graves" - "The Record of Japanese Grudge"
• The Village of Eight Graves actually exists
• The reason why the script wasn't completed until just before filming
• Production announcement for a fait accompli
• First filming of "The Village of Eight Graves"
• Atsumi Kiyoshi and Sukekiyo's Night
• Kosuke Kindaichi in 1977
• Cyanide Chocolate Incident and Tsuyama Incident

Screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto

In contrast to Kadokawa Pictures' lightning-fast planning for The Inugami Family (1976) and early filming, Shochiku's The Village of the Eight Graves, also based on a novel by Yokomizo Seishi, had been repeatedly postponed and was stuck in a quagmire despite being scheduled for release in the fall of 1975. The delays were due to the lack of prospects for the screenplay by Suzuki Takayuki to be completed, as well as personnel turmoil within Shochiku following the dismissal of Mishima Yoshiro, head of production, and the appointment of Wakita Shigeru as acting head of production.

Eventually, the situation developed into a change in screenwriter. Shinobu Hashimoto stepped in to take over. Although Hashimoto was Suzuki's senior in terms of career, Hashimoto and Suzuki were old acquaintances, and in his younger days, when Suzuki was working in the Screenwriting Department of Toei's Planning Department, Hashimoto had been in charge of typing out Hashimoto's scripts, which he had written in kana on a typewriter. Hashimoto felt indebted to Suzuki for this and wrote a will in which he requested that upon his death, his funeral be held only by directors and screenwriters who had experience of typing out Hashimoto's kana scripts, such as Yoji Yamada, Takeo Kunihiro, and Takehiro Nakajima, and Suzuki's name was included on the list. However, Suzuki passed away in 2005, and this will was never carried out.

Perhaps because of this relationship, or perhaps because Hashimoto had been involved in the launch of "Mura of the Eight Graves," and Hashimoto Productions had privately considered making the film as the third installment after "Castle of Sand" (1974) and "Mt. Hakkoda" (1977), the change in screenwriters seemed to go smoothly. However, one wonders whether Hashimoto, who had been present throughout the entire three-year filming of "Mt. Hakkoda," had the time to write the script for "Mura of the Eight Graves." Looking at the 1976 filming schedule for "Mt. Hakkoda," filming of the troupe led by Takakura Ken took place in Hirosaki City, Lake Towada, and other locations in January, followed by spring scenery in April and the natural scenery of the Tsugaru Straits in summer, with the majority of the location shooting taking place from October to February of the following year.

Therefore, since filming was not so packed in the first half of 1976, it seems that they could find time to write the script. Thus, "The Village of the Eight Graves" was entrusted to the hands of Yoshitaro Nomura and Shinobu Hashimoto, the duo behind "The Sand Glass."

Hashimoto said about this film, "I felt firsthand the large number of people returning home for Obon, and I thought this was an eternally new subject, and I was sure it would be an interesting piece" (Eiga Jiho, August 1976 issue), and this shows that he is the type of screenwriter who does not simply digest the original work, but instead finds a unique angle and develops his adaptation from there. In a complete departure from Suzuki's script, which was set in the 1950s like the original, Hashimoto has changed the time setting to the present day. Furthermore, he has also eliminated from the film the siblings Satomura Shintaro and Noriko, who were important characters in the original work, as well as the head priest who has a close relationship with the protagonist. And at the end of the film, he provides a new and unique highlight, with the Tajimi family mansion engulfed in flames.

As mentioned in the first part of this article, it can be assumed that Satomura Shintaro's presence was heavily emphasized in the initial concept when Suzuki was in charge of the screenplay, so there is a big gap between the screenplay and Hashimoto's version. However, Hashimoto's alteration of the original work to make the protagonists Tatsuya and Miyako fall in love and the use of a limestone cave as a setting for the development of their love in a different way from the original cannot be said to be bad as a cinematic adaptation, regardless of whether it is a mystery or not. However, Hashimoto's approach to The Village of the Eight Graves as an occult story rather than a mystery is a mixed blessing. This can be seen as an influence from the popularity of occult films such as The Exorcist(1973) in the same era, but Hashimoto had been trying to intertwine the past and present through grudges for some time now.

For example, "Tetsuwan," which was in the works around 1956, is a unique work based on the Noh play of the same name and the theme of "Ushi no Koku Mairi," a midnight visit to a shrine, which was based on Hashimoto's own experience. It was directed by Akira Kurosawa and was planned as one of the films in the anthology series "Jealousy," which featured directors from around the world, including Jean Cocteau.

The story begins just after the end of the war, when nails used in a midnight pilgrimage are discovered in a log at a lumber mill. The heroine, who works at the sawmill, is in love with a truck driver, but is also having an affair with a woman who has returned from the city. However, the shy heroine is unable to directly criticize him for this. After suffering, she finally gets revenge by making a midnight pilgrimage that lasts for 21 days, but on the last night of the year, as she emerges from the forest, she comes across a truck. The man driving is the man she has been in love with, and the same woman is sitting next to him. The man is so shocked to come across the terrifying heroine with a candle on her head in the dark forest at night that he makes a mistake in the steering and falls into a valley with the truck.

This project never came to fruition as the omnibus film that was the starting point for it was cancelled, but it could have been a modern version of the Kurosawa x Hashimoto duo's Rashomon (1950) and Throne of Blood (1957). Kurosawa reportedly advised Hashimoto that the project would work if it was set in the Heian period rather than in the modern era.

Nearly 30 years The Day After, Hashimoto adapted this plan into a film titled "Love's Heat Haze" (1986). However, as Kurosawa had feared, setting the story in the present day created problems. This was fraught with the same problems as "The Village of the Eight Graves," which was set in the present day, but why did Hashimoto insist on setting the story in the present day?

The origin of "The Village of Eight Graves" - "The Record of Japanese Grudge"