[KineJapan] Great Hara Kazuo story

[Markus Nornes]

Dennis Doros, the legendary distributor (Milestone), tells a great story
about his first encounter with Hara Kazuo—just now from Facebook.

M

I'm so glad that The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On is on blu-ray. It's
one of my favorite films of all time and one I acquired for Kino back in
1987. I want to tell a story and I'm linking it to the director on FB so if
I'm repeating a tall tale, he can chastise me. It's also the first time
he's hearing this story of our meeting. Back in 1987 I was desperate to
acquire the film and my boss Don Krim said if I can get it cheaply, we
could do it. My friend at the Japan Society, Dr. Kyoko Hirano, really
wanted me to meet Mr. Hara
<https://www.facebook.com/kazuo.hara.16718?__tn__=%2CdK-R0.g-R&eid=ARD3XQSQM506uks1PIIR7kWN8_uwVxUmcaQX7zK6jZk0gRSf464-k_r7S18Ug1oo-04zSMP7sCOIUnbl&fref=mentions>
who
was coming to town to present the film. So Dr. Hirano met me and we were
walking to the Algonquin Hotel to meet him. And she tells me a story about
Kei Kumai's THE SEA AND THE POISON. Mr. Hara was Mr. Kumai's assistant on
the film. For one of the scenes, she tells me, they had real trouble making
the blood look real. They tried all the usual suspects but it just wasn't
working for Mr. Kumai. They leave for the evening and the next day, Mr.
Hara comes in with a large plastic bag and suggests they try using this
substance. They do the scene and the substance looks just like the real
thing and Mr. Hara has saved the scene. Mr. Kumai thanks him. Mr. Hara
responds, "Thank you, it's mine." Just as Dr. Hirano finishes the story as
we reach the hotel lobby, the elevator rings and Mr. Hara gets out of the
elevator. Even though I was 30 years old, I was still very innocent and
totally freaked out. However, Mr. Hara proved to be one of the nicest
people I've ever met in film and I absolutely LOVED distributing his
magnificent film.


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*Markus Nornes*
*Professor of Asian Cinema*
Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages and
Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design

*Department of Film, Television and Media*
*6348 North Quad*
*105 S. State Street*
*Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*
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