Completion screening event and press conference of new movie "Everest Kamigami no Itadaki"

The completion screening event and press conference of new movie "Everest Kamigami no Itadaki" was held on 4 February which was attended by cast members Okada Junichi, Abe Hiroshi, Ono Machiko, Sasaki Kuranosuke, Pierre Taki, Komoto Masahiro, Kazama Shunsuke and the director Hirayama Hideyuki. The movie which will be shown in cinemas from 12 March, is based on the bestselling novel by Yumemakura Baku which features a group of men who aspires to conquer Everest at 8,848 metres above sea level in freezing conditions of minus 50 degrees Celsius. This movie is the first Japanese film to be shot at 5,200 metres above sea level on location at Everest over 10 days.

When asked about the filming at Everest, Okada revealed that as he had to climb at the front of the pack with Abe and Ono following behind him, he had to put up a front and not show his weakness in front of them. As the staff and cast had to measure the oxygen level in their blood twice each day, Okada decided to cheat a little by breathing in a lot of oxygen before taking the measurement test so as to pretend that he was not suffering from the thin oxygen level at the high altitude. This was to avoid being told to descend from the mountain if he developed altitude sickness especially since there was no double for him thus he didn't want to disrupt the filming. Upon hearing this, Abe said that he didn't realise that Okada did it and revealed with a smile that he did the same which made the audience laugh. In response, Ono said that she didn't resort to such tricks and was surprised to know that the two actors had resorted to this.

Due to the tough conditions, Okada and Abe said that they lost about 3 to 4kg after the trip but Ono turned out to be the only one who put on 3kg. When asked about this, she commented that she didn't really know what happened but as she ate full meals every time and drank a lot of milk tea to replenish the water lost, Ono gathered that this was how she put on the weight. This led Okada to praise her as the toughest actress in Japan now to be able to survive such tough conditions.

Source: Sponichi / Oricon