Oh damn it…

… I just don’t know when to stop. More love for Somai and Hiroko in Sailor Suit and Machine Gun, preceded by more cool Hasegawa / Suzuki stills from Youth Killer.

And for the last, Tomoko Tabata in Somai’s Ohikkoshi (1993)

Behind the Scenes Stills Vol. 2

Save the best for the last? Actually, I included my favourite stills in the first post, so this is the left overs. Enjoy.

In the first picture load we’ll take a look at behind the scenes of Nikkatsu pink films. While often a pain to sit through, these films have given the start for many famous directors’ careers, including as Shinji Somai (Taifu Club), Yojiro Takita (Departures), Shusuke Kaneko (Death Note), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Tokyo Sonata), Ryuichi Hiroki (It’s Only Talk), Hideo Nakata (Ring), Yoshimitsu Morita (The Family Game), Akihiko Shiota (Gaichu) and Masayuki Suo (Shall We Dance).

Hideo Nakata (red & white shirt) and Masaru Konuma (on the right)

Koyu Ohara, Noboru Tanaka, Masaru Konuma and producer Yoshihiro Yuhki

Konuma filming

Tatsumi Kumashiro directing the film Ichijo Sayuri (1972)

Moving away from the pink genre, here we have Hideo Gosha (middle) and Yukio Mishima (left) making Hitokiri (1969)

Gosha and actor Tatsuya Nakadai shooting Kai (1985)

Yasuharu Hasebe directing the bad girls of Stay Cat Rock: Machine Animal (1970)

Hasebe at the sets of of Stay Cat Rock Sex Hunter (1970)

Same movie, new problem. Meiko Kaji worries about her make up. Rikiya Yasuoka on the right.

Behind the Scenes Stills Vol. 1

Yesterday Michael at Wildgrounds posted some great behind the scenes photos from Asian movies. Being a very nice idea, and me lacking time to watch movies (you’ve probably noticed a lot of my recent posts do not say “recently watched”…) I decided to do the same. Now, a few of these stills lack person identifications. The problem is that my dvd collection is 7800 km away from me, and my screen capture archives lack any detailed information. So, if you know the person in the picture just say… ehm, whatever you like… as long as you share your knowledge here. Please.

First up is the movie Youth Killer (1976), with director Kazuhiko Hasegawa and cinematographer Tatsuo Suzuki in the picture.

More pictures from the same movie.

Do you recognize the assistant director (glasses & cap). He’s Shinji Somai, my favourite filmmaker from the 80’s.

Different movie, same maestro. Shinji Somai and Ken Ogata at the sets of The Catch (1983)

Two years before Somai made the greatest idol movie of all time. Hiroko Yakushimaru and Tsunehiko Watase played the leading characters.

Hiroko’s debut film was Never Give Up (1978). She starred alongside actor legend Ken Takakura.

In 1979 she had a brief role in the Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba movie G.I. Samurai.

Kadokawa idol movies were popular in the early 80’s, but 5 years later Toei had taken the lead with their Sukeban Deka TV series. Here the star of the first series, Yuki Saito, hands in the role of Asamiya Saki to her follower, Yoko “Nanno” Minamino.

One year later it was Yui Asaka’s turn to receive flowers.

Against all odds, 1980’s idols made cool action stars. But more than a decade before there was a hard boiled cult starlet who didn’t have to worry about odds. Miss Snowblood Meiko Kaji being directed by Toshiya Fujita in 1973.