Kiyoshi Nishimura question - Hairpin Circus / Red Target

[Roger Macy]

I had an index reference to Nishimura as the co-director of Melodii beloy nochi, 1978, which is, of course, Byakuya no shirabe.  That's also in Eastmancolor. Ah, I remember why I have a note.  In the documentary 'Rerberg and Tarkovsky: The Reverse Side of Stalker' by Igor Mayborada, 2009, Rerberg's reported defense to Tarkovski for screwing up the first shoot of 'Stalker' was 'Look, I can shoot a color film - see, I did Melodii beloy nochi very nicely in Japan'. To which Tarkovski is supposed to have said, 'Yes, but this is the Soviet Union, where you check each reel. Sayonara.' All right, I made up 'sayonara', but it's a reasonable reconstruction of the effective end of Rerberg's career, and a positive gloss on what Tarkovski's widow published of his actual sentiments on Rerberg..
Roger
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jasper Sharp 
  To: kinejapan 
  Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 10:20 AM
  Subject: RE: Kiyoshi Nishimura question - Hairpin Circus / Red Target


  Thank you both for these insights. Very interesting Don that you mention it was at the cheaper end of Toho's production roster, although I can imagine it was fairly modestly budgeted compared with Okamoto Kihachi's war epics of the era, or Gosha Hideo's Panavision jidai-geki. At any rate, the film looks wonderful, and I'll have to see it sometime. I'm amazed I've never come across the name of Nishimura before, especially as he is important enough to warrant his own English-language wikipedia entry, which mentions his "arrest in 1987 for secretly using a video camera in a public bathhouse for women".

  I'm also really interested though in the relationship between Tokyo Eiga and Toho - you mention they're a subsidiary Don, any further information?


  Thanks again!
  jasper



  My new book, The Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema, is out now from Scarecrow Press.

  Jasper Sharp: Writer & Film Curator Homepage
  http://jaspersharp.com/

  Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:28:21 +0900
  From: ryuganji at gmail.com
  To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
  Subject: Re: Kiyoshi Nishimura question - Hairpin Circus / Red Target

  Hi Jasper,

  The liner notes for the Hairpin Circus DVD mention that the Macao Grand Prix scenes were "essential for the completion of the film" (perhaps it was featured in Itsuki Hiroyuki's serialized novella on which the film was based?). Toho were slow to permit the Macao shoot, so with the race impending, subsidiary Tokyo Eiga put up provisional funds to make it possible. The producers eventually received permission from Toho after the scenes were shot. It was made for 45 million yen, which was the lowest bracket for a Toho film at the time.

  Don Brown


  2012/2/14 Jasper Sharp <jasper_sharp at hotmail.com>


    Does anyone know anything about the director Kiyoshi Nishimura, more specifically, his two films Red Target (Bara no hyoteki) and Highway Circuit a.k.a. Hairpin Circus (Heapin saakasu), both from 1972. It seems to me, flicking through the Unijapan catalogues of that year, that they were both shot in Hong Kong/Macao, but I'm wandering if this was actually the case.
    The reason I ask is that the Unijapan catalogue mentions both were shot in Eastman Color, but from this period, almost all of Toho's films were shot in Fujicolor (except those such as Shinoda’s The Scandalous Adventures of Buraiken that were shot in Panavision) - so there must be a reason they were shot in Eastmancolor, and if they were shot on location in Hong Kong (Shaw Brothers used Eastman Color, for example), this this would sort of make sense. Or maybe I'm barking up a completely nonsensical tree here...










    My new book, The Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema, is out now from Scarecrow Press.

    Jasper Sharp: Writer & Film Curator Homepage
    http://jaspersharp.com/

    Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema
    http://www.midnighteye.com

    Zipangu Fest: Japanarchy in the UK
    http://zipangufest.com/


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