miptv
NEWS
Japan’s action man in Cannes
T
HE JAPANESE action series Crisis is the first MIPTV Asian World Premiere TV Screening, taking place on Tuesday, at 11.45 in Auditorium A. Co-produced by Kansai TV and Fuji TV, the series stars Hidetoshi Nishijima (Tony Takitani, Dolls) as Timaru, a law enforcement agent who is investigating terrorist plots in Japan. Despite Japan’s safe image, Timaru insists that there are a number of potential dangers that might become reality. “The story uses events that really happened in the past [to] imagine the possibility of criminal activity in the future,” said Nishijima, who is at MIPTV to p r omot e the ser ies.
“It explores these possibilities with hard action scenes that should appeal to people in every country, not just Japan.” A police inspector in charge of international espionage, Nishijima’s character Tamaru is partnered with Inami, played by Shun Oguri Crows ero , an officer who takes a very different approach to his job. “We are like the two sides of the same coin,” said Nishijima. “Inami is a stoical man. He confronts criminals in a very calm way. Together with their team they pursue a huge criminal case that sometimes forces them to resort to extra-judicial means. My character often has to do battle with his own philosophy of life just to get the job done.” With the help of director Kazuki Kaneshiro, Nishijima endured weeks of difficult physical training in order to perform the intricate action scenes. “It started for me about a year ago with training in a special form of martial arts called Kali Silat, from south-east Asia,” said Nishijima. “I needed to know how to use this fighting technique in order to act out the basic requirements for the action scenes. We had the help of a specialised action trainer team, even during the shooting phase. Just the training period itself lasted more than 50 days.” The hard work was worth it. “I was able to do all the fight scenes myself, without any need for a stunt double.” The series is distributed internationally by Fuji Creative Corporation, a subsidiary in charge of international distribution for Fuji TV, one of the largest Japanese broadcasting companies. “MIPTV is delighted and honoured that Crisis from Kansai TV can be presented this year as the very first MIPTV Asian World Premiere TV Screening,” said Laurine Garaude, director of the television division of Reed MIDEM, organiser of MIPTV. “The exceptional quality of this Japanese police series makes it particularly suitable for international markets.”
Hidetoshi Nishijima
30