The 'Giants at Dawn' creative team finally got to gather in Cowra, thanks to the efforts of Michelle Wilde and Robin Clifton at the NSWFTO. In rode director Geoff Murphy and producer Brian Burgess, and then it was on the road to Cowra via Goulburn with producer Brian Williams; Japanese producer Hideki Ujiie; project stalwart Michael Jacob, and omni-functional cameraman Peter Beeh.
It might not seem like much to outside observers, but I have to say it was a big event. Most importantly, we got to the actual place where the events took place, and presto, everybody got a feel for exactly what the event might have looked like. For years Brian and I have been talking about the importance of the landscape, both geographically but also morphologically, as having had a big input into the events that transpired 61 years ago. Once we were on the sloped hill. Geoff was onto its important in a flash. Looking at the diagram on the sign, he commented, "looking at this alone, it's clear they weren't breaking out. Their intent was suicide."
There's a lot that was discussed and analysed on the site; one of the big cards played was by Cowra 'heavyweight' Don Kibbler who broached the concept of actually building replicas on the site and shooting the film there on-site. Geoff commented that perhaps that would be something that would galvanise the cast if they knew what they were about to re-enact actually took place on the very slope. It seemed insane, but also inspired. All I thought was, "Why does that seem like such a damned natural idea?"
Anyway, I told Geoff it would be excellent because it would extra weight when he gives the cast his famous direction "Run like bastards" on the day.
I looked for the flat bit of ground in the private property that had the baseball field, but this time, the earth was not exposed, and so the old baseball diamond was not visible. Instead, I give you this rather lame picture (above) of the flat bit where they played ball. How do I know for sure? It's because it's the only flat bit in the entire campsite where they could have played baseball. The slope on the hill is that steep.
Brian Williams was pretty excited that things were going really well, and Brian Burgess was motoring away asking the hard questions; and as it turns out Hideki Ujiie was asking the very same questions in Japanese, so I had a heck of time interpreting on the fly. It was madness at one point as Brian Burgess and Hideki Ujiie were asking each other the very same questions about the logistics of the possibility of actually shooting on the site. Don's suggestion essentially blindsided us and we were staggering around wondering the same questions at once.
Later we visited the cemetery as well as the gardens, but undoubtedly the biggest breakthrough of the day was the possibility of shooting the actual exterior stuff on the actual site. Are we excited yet? Oh yes we are.
Mr. Ujiie came to the stone laid in honour of the Japanese war dead and said, "Art, I think we'd better go deliver a prayer."
And it so happened Don Kibbler had some incense ready; he actually keeps them stocked in his car for these moments, which goes to show how well-practised his routine is. Thus it was that Mr. Ujiie (above) got me up to the stone to lay down some incense for the Japanese war dead and *gulp* pray. What can I say, but *things* keep coming up with this project. :)
---
A funny note: Over a few beers at the Imperial Hotel Geoff and I got into a discussion about the suicide mission mentality as he's been reading a detailed account of the kamikaze missions staged out of the Philippines in late 1944. - Geoff's a big time WWII buff; like me he just digs aircraft carriers and naval aviation stuff. Some guys are into infantry or artillery; some guys (like Peter Jackson) like tanks. Geoff and I like airplanes and aircraft carriers. Indeed, Geoff's first words off the plane to me were "I've built the (aircraft carrier) Shokaku. It's about 6 foot long at 1/144tth scale."
I asked him what he thought of 'Pearl Harbor' and he commented "I was in Hawaii at the time it came out. I heard there were actual veterans who saw action at Pearl Harbor, who were invited to the movie premier and they came out crying. They were crying because it was so wrong; not because it was any good."
Not to mention the zero fighters were painted ocean green (!).
No comments:
Post a Comment