Lost in the Wilderness (植村直己物語)

LOST IN THE WILDERNESS

February 1973, Greenland

Planning: Yuzo Irie, Eizo Kitano

Produced by: Juichi Tanaka Moriyoshi Saito, Gohei Kogure

Original Novel: Naomi Uemura

Screenplay: Yoshiki Iwama

Music Directors: Kunihiko Murai, Will Ackerman

Cinematography: Hiroyuki Namiki Lighting: Haruo Kawashima Art Direction: Hiroshi Tokuda

Co-producer: Kazuhiko Mizutani Assistant Director: Hiroyuki Momozawa

Mountain Photography: Etsuo Akutsu

CAST

Toshiyuki Nishida

Chieko Baisho

Masato Furuoya, Go Wakabayashi Hideji Otaki

Eitaro Ozawa, Kei Yamamoto Hisashi Igawa, Tonpei Hidari

Yatsuko Tan'ami, Tomoe Hiiro Kin Sugai

Nobuko Otowa Hisano Yamaoka

Ryo Ikebe

Directed by: Jun'ya Sato

Hey, Mitsu!

Hey, Naomi. Where've you been?

Upernavik.

Upernavik? Is that a woman?

Thank you!

From Siorapaluk to Upernavik.

A round trip of 3.000 kilometers.

If you cross the Antarctic continent, it's also 3.000 kilometers.

It's training for crossing Antarctica.

Where is Antarctica?

Right on the opposite side of the Earth.

What is the Earth?

Well...

A place full of beautiful women.

I see. I'll go ahead now.

I'll stay here tonight.

All right, we've arrived!

Siorapaluk Village, Greenland

Foster mother.

I brought you a seal.

It's so big!

Thank you.

Hey, Mitsu!

Are you heading to Antarctica soon?

No. First, I'm going back to Japan for a while.

I'm sorry!

- Excuse me. - Yes, are you okay?

Yes. Oh, excuse me!

- Oh, thank you. - Sorry about this...

I'm so sorry!

Anyway, I thought I'd try to escape,

but yarn got tangled everywhere!

So, you cut the yarn and ran away?

That's hilarious!

Welcome!

Oh, Mr. Uemura! How have you been?

Hello, it's been a while.

Oh my!

You two...

- Thanks for the other day… - Oh no, uh, thanks.

I'm the one who's thankful!

Oh, so this is the person that you were...

Auntie, stop!

- I'm leaving. - I see now!

Can I use the restroom for a bit?

- Has it been about a year? - Yes, it's been a long time.

This is so funny.

Auntie, uh, I'll have the usual, please.

- Have you been mountain climbing again? - No, this time I went to Greenland.

- Greenland? Where's that? - Uh, way east of Canada…

It's still within the Arctic Circle.

- So, it's a cold place, huh? - Yes.

Oh, uh, my name is Naomi Uemura. Nice to meet you.

- I'm Nozaki, Kimiko Nozaki. - Ah, nice to meet you.

- Excuse me. - Thank you, excuse me.

Uh, does she live around here?

She's the tofu shopkeeper's daughter about 200 meters down the road.

- Welcome home. - I'm back.

Welcome.

Welcome!

- Are you tired? - A little.

The kids wouldn't listen to me...

You've got a slight fever again. I'll lay out the futon, so you can rest.

It's okay! I can lay out the futon myself.

If you earn a little from teaching calligraphy but end up getting sick,

it's better to just stay home and be healthy.

But a sheltered woman over thirty doesn't look very impressive.

It can't be helped. You have a weak constitution.

Yes, yes...

- Mr. Uemura! - Hi.

- It's been a while. - How have you been? Come in!

- Hello! - How do you do?

Ogawa, this time I brought some stones from Greenland.

Here you have.

Masao, he has given you another gift…

Mr. Uemura's souvenir stones...

You always think of Masao...

- They must have been heavy. - No, not at all.

Your elbows are dropping. Yes, that's right.

Maybe it's a little too big?

- Goodbye! - Yes, goodbye!

- Thank you very much. - See you next week.

Hey, does that Uemura come to the store often?

When he's in Tokyo, yes. Why do you ask?

I mean, it's kind of embarrassing to see him again.

I guess that's true.

"I'm Uemura… Naomi Uemura!"

Stop it, Auntie!

- What does Mr. Uemura do for a living? - Well, let me see...

- He climbs mountains... - No, I mean his job.

Mountain climbing is just a hobby, right?

Right... I wonder what his actual job is.

Oh!

- This is inconvenient... - Huh?

- I'll go around that way. - Why? Hey, wait…

- Hello. - Mr. Uemura, what's going on?

Uh, I thought I'd ask you for a favor.

- Oh? What is it? - Well, you see...

I thought you could give this to Ms. Nozaki if she came by to the store...

What are you talking about? She's right in front of you!

- You can give it to her yourself. - Well...

Oh, hello.

Uh, this is a book I wrote. Please take it.

Yes, but...

If it's boring, feel free to throw it away. Here you go.

Thank you!

Huh? What he said is true. His name is actually printed here, look.

Oh, and there's a photo, too. Look.

To Kimiko Nozaki

No way! I'm leaving now.

Don't forget about this. He gave it to you.

- Say, brother. - Yes?

Is there a tofu shop called Ogawa in Higashijujo?

Ogawa? Yes, there is. Why do you ask?

No reason.

Ogawa and I joined the Meiji University Mountaineering Club at the same time.

On the third day, we were taken to a rookie training camp.

Ogawa had been climbing since middle school.

By high school, he had climbed almost all of Japan's famous mountains.

But I was a complete beginner.

I grew up on a farm and had confidence in my stamina, but the results were terrible.

- Uemura, what's wrong? Are you okay? - Yes, I'm okay...

If you're okay, stand up! Stand and walk!

Walk using your hips!

Uemura, what's wrong?!

Huh? What's wrong? You're rolling around like an acorn!

Oh, he finally made it.

Pull yourself together!

- I'm sorry! I'm sorry! - Thank you very much!

I'm sorry!

Pull yourself together, Uemura. Don't be so sloppy!

Let him sleep in the tent.

- I'm sorry. - Hey.

That acorn is completely useless.

- Uemura, want some? - Yeah...

Ah, thank you.

I was so embarrassed and frustrated that I didn't know where to hide myself.

I seriously thought that if I collapsed, I might as well die.

I desperately wanted to become like Ogawa.

And with nothing but the determination not to lose to Ogawa,

I climbed the steps of the shrine behind the dorm 200 times every day.

And whenever I saved enough from my job, I climbed alone.

In the summer of my senior year, Ogawa went on a trip to Alaska.

This is Mount McKinley.

6.194 meters. About twice the height of Mount Yari.

The scale is completely different.

This is the Kahiltna Glacier.

You could never see this in Japan.

Mooching off your parents and going places like this, huh?

- Sister-in-law, add some more sushi. - Stop it already.

I came to this family as a wife, you know.

Hey, doesn't Japan's mountains look puny now?

I became desperate with the desire to see glaciers,

and climb foreign mountains.

And, to make matters worse,

with my grades, no company would even let me take a job interview.

Don't be foolish!

Do you know how much your brother struggled to send you to university?

And now you want to go abroad without even getting a job?

What kind of idea is that?

I can't even get a job, so how can I expect to go abroad?

Why is that? Why can't you find a job?

Naomi, what's going on?

Naomi's not okay.

He hasn't eaten for three days and has just stayed in bed under the futon.

I won't allow it! I let Osamu struggle enough when he was a child,

but I can't let Naomi do whatever he wants!

Dad, you've been worrying about that?

Naomi! Hey!

Stop being so stubborn. If you want to go that badly, then go ahead.

But I'm not giving you a single yen from this house.

Yes, yes! I won't be a burden on the family, I promise.

Did you read that book?

Yes, half of it.

I really understood Mr. Uemura. Despite being timid and shy,

he can be surprisingly assertive and tough when he needs to be.

- He's just hopeless. - But listen to me.

Since he couldn't get a job, he just took a one-way ticket and 40.000 yen,

and went to America, even though he could barely speak English.

- He's completely reckless. - He really is.

And there, he earned about 1.000 dollars. That's around 360.000 yen!