島ぜんぶでおーきな祭-第7回沖縄国際映画祭-

Saturday March 28th saw the screening and cast greeting of “Deadman Inferno” take place at Mihama 7 Plex in Chatan town, with director Hiroshi Shinagawa, and stars Sho Aikawa, Yuichi Kimura, Daisuke Miyagawa, Daigo of Chidori, and Kunihiro Kawashima of Yasei Bakudan coming up to the stage.

 

The film features a memorable performance from Sho Aikawa, marking his 30th year in the entertainment business. Chased by enemies including the yakuza (Japanese mafia) as well as zombies, the movie tells the tale of a group trying to escape from the mysterious “Z Island.” The movie delivers transcendent action entertainment, packed with elaborate sequences, comedy and drama.

At the cast greeting, all the guests appeared with T-shirts emblazoned with a “Z” from the Japanese title of the movie: “Z Island”. Aikawa explained that the movie started from his direct negotiation with director Shinagawa. To celebrate 30^th anniversary of his career, he asked to Shinagawa to create a film together with him, with the director saying “yes” immediately. 

“I get used to acting in action movies and normally fight for a particular target,” Aikawa told the audience. "I like the concept of the yakuza fighting zombies but there was no specific leader in the zombie group. These ideas came to me all together, so it was difficult to know who I should focus on.”

Miyagawa, who plays one of the zombies, explained about the difficulty of acting his part. “When I showed my zombie walk, the director said ‘It’s like a gorilla.’” Daigo then added; “It was challenging for me to act in a driving scene because I don’t have a license actually!”

The director Shinagawa added that, “[Kunihiro] Kawashima is known as a wild character but I was impressed how serious he was about acting.”

As the event came to a close, Shinagawa took the time to show his appreciation to the crowd. “Thank you very much for coming to see us today. If you enjoy the film, please tell many people, but if you don’t like it, please keep this secret till you will be in tombs!” The crowd burst out in laughter as the ensemble cast then added; “Please watch many times!”