Saturday, December 19, 2015

Completion press conference of new movie "Everest Kamigami no Itadaki"

The completion press conference of new movie "Everest Kamigami no Itadaki" was held at Meiji Kinenkan on 14 December which was attended by the main cast members Okada Junichi, Abe Hiroshi and Ono Macihiko and the director Hirayama Hideyuki. The movie which is based on the bestseller novel by Yumemakura Baku which had won the 11th Shibata Renzaburo Award, is the first Japanese movie to be shot on Mount Everest.

Recalling the filming, Okada commented that the experience has changed his values as an actor as he aims for overcoming his limits more so than before and tries to think about what kind of acting would make the audience feel touched. Having to film at the height of 5,200m above sea level was very difficult as Abe revealed that there was no way to bathe and there were no toilets at that height. At night, it was difficult and scary to sleep because of the low oxygen levels so that place was a somewhat abnormal world to him but they managed to persevere and overcome the odds. As for Ono, she recounted that she was told that a person would lose about 3kg in weight at that height due to the atmospheric pressure but she found herself to have gained 3kg instead. Okada then complimented Ono for being tougher than any of the cast and crew which made her very pleased with herself. The director Hirayama commented that there was no way for them to resort to camera tricks so whatever viewers see in the movie is like a documentary of the three actors presented in the most realistic way as possible.

When asked about what they would like to do in the new year so as to cross their limits, Okada said that he wishes to go back to Everest again to see the beautiful sights there. As for Ono, she wants to go back to Everest but it doesn't have to be necessarily done next year. Abe then revealed that he actually finished his part first and wanted to wait for Okada to finish before they descended the mountain. However, he was so tired that he took the helicopter down first. In view of this experience, he hoped that he won't have to go through something as tough as this again next year which led to the media laughing at his joke.

The movie will be shown in cinemas from 12 March 2016.

Source: Eiga.com

No comments: