GSploitation: The Tigers in Hi! London 『ザ・タイガース ハーイ!ロンドン』 (1969)

“I’d been holding onto the dream of the five of us being the best in the world so Katsumi quitting was a relief. My anxiety dissipated. It was like popping a balloon with a needle, effectively the dream was shattered. What was left behind afterwards was like, it already seemed empty. While performing I started to think, is all we’re doing selling our youth?”

2011, Hitomi Minoru (1)

(L-R: Shiro, Sally, Taro, Julie, and Pi on drums)

The Tigers final feature film 『ザ・タイガース ハーイ! ロンドン』 (The Tigers: Hi! London) was released on July 12, 1969, not quite three months after they’d finished shooting in London and not quite half a year from when Kahashi Katsumi (“Toppo”) quit the band and Kishibe Ittoku’s (“Sally”) brother Shiro was drafted to replace him. The Tigers were poised for a big global push but Toppo leaving popped the band’s momentum. They would travel to London and meet the Barry Gibb and Mick Jagger but the only one still invested in superstardom was Sawada Kenji (“Julie”). By the time filming started Hitomi Minoru (“Pi”) was already starting to plan his exit. The Tigers would release one more studio album--arguably their best one--『自由と憧れと友情』(Jiyuu to Akogare to Yujuu, Freedom and Desire and Friendship) on December 15, 1970 and on January 24, 1971 they played their final concert.While Hi! London isn’t a break up film like the Beatles Let It Be you can definitely see the writing on the wall.

(自由な時間が欲しいな~, thinks Julie. Although in reality he wanted anything but that.)

(The late, great Fuji Makoto as "Demon Onitaro" a name which in Japanese contains like 5 puns about demons.

Clocking in at just under 90 minutes, Hi! London is a souffle of a film, the run time fluffled with at least 75 minutes worth of montage footage including the song sequences. Written by Tanami Yasao, who wrote the two previous Tigers films, and directed by teen film specialist Iwauchi Katsuki (若大将シリーズ or “Young Ace” series), the story is incredibly simple: The Tigers play themselves, an overworked rock band hounded by young women and whose only desire in life is a day off to relax. When Julie thinks this to himself one day in the green room (自由な時間が欲しいな~) his wish summons a demon or, rather, Mr. Demon Onitaro (played by the great Fuji Makoto) who offers them a deal--he can give them a few hours of freedom but if they don’t return within the allotted time, he gets their souls.

(The lovely Kuma Kaori...)

The Tigers take him up on it but Mr. Demon is tricky. He and his witch friend (the absolutely delightful Sugimoto Emma) attempt to delay them by luring them out to the beach where their car gets stuck in the sand. As luck would have it they’re saved by their old friend… Kuma Kaori, star of the previous two Tigers films!

Kuma Kaori, who makes her first appearance about 45 minutes into the movie, plays Megumi, a young woman who is desperate to find the music her late father wrote and left behind somewhere in London. The Tigers decide to help her out and--with some magic from Mr. Demon--are soon on their way to London where they meet up with Megumi and find the songs at the Prospect of Whitby. But Mr. Demon still has some tricks up his sleeve and delays the Tigers just long enough for them to miss his deadline.

Before he can take a soul, Megumi asks that he wait just long enough for them to play her one of her father’s songs (the mournful 「嘆き」(Nageki or Lament)… but the song’s power turns Mr. Demon into a toad! The souls are safe!

But the Tigers weren’t.

(Pi getting herded into a van post-performance.)

(Listening to the game on the radio.)

Hi! London is incredibly claustrophobic. Pushing in at the margins of every scene are the fans. Rapid, shrieking fans. They are a gaping maw of need that these five men--one of whom joined the band 3 months ago and can’t be trusted with more than a tambourine--can never and will never fulfill. They chase after the Tigers’ van like a pack of hungry dogs while inside poor Pi is listening to a baseball game on a transistor radio, imagining what it would be like to actually attend the game himself.

(At Young Mates)

Unlike the two previous films with their catchy music video style performances, most of the music scenes take place at Young Mates, a music club in Tokyo. There are a handful of very nice transitions where the song begins and we can only see and hear the Tigers but as the camera pulls back and the shrieking girls come into view the song fades into the background. We have trouble seeing and hearing over the frantic girls. Do the girls even know what song they are screaming over? 50 years later you can still feel the anxiety and fear wafting off the screen.

(Julie, wandering free)

(L-R: Sally and Taro)

In contrast, when the Tigers are set free by Mr. Demon, they wander through crowds without being hassled. They play, run on the beach, laugh and talk and smile. They have nobody to please but themselves. The sense of freedom is intoxicating, released from the boxes of their tiny dressing rooms and vans.

(Kaori having fun in London)

(Looking out over the girls that drove her from show business.)

Kuma Kaori also shares both the Tigers anxiety and freedom. She roams freely with them in London but in the scenes taking place in Japan, she only appears with the Tigers when they are alone. Kaori would also soon leave show business. Despite being a talented singer and actress--she contributes the lovely 「髪がゆれている」 (The sway of my hair) to the film--Kaori had been harrassed non-stop by Tigers fans since the first Tigers film and was tired of it. You can almost see it in her face in the final scenes of the film as she hides behind a pillar at Young Mates, out of sight of the hordes of fangirls. These girls had been ruthless towards her simply because she was friendly with their idols. How she must hate and fear them…

(Pi, lying down, explaining to Sally that his "cool" expression on television was because he really had to use the bathroom while Taro, in the foreground, looks on and laughs.)

(Sally and Julie feeding Taro some juice.)

(The gang enjoying the flight.)

Hi! London isn’t a bad film, despite all the hurdles it faced. Director Iwauchi captures some charming performances from the Tigers as a group. Taro and Shiro, the non-actors of the group, are delicately managed while the other three do the heavy lifting. Pi and Sally are both very natural in their line delivery and serve up some funny quips. Julie, while never the greatest actor, has that it factor and doing everything he can to audition for his future career as a matinee idol. The film is alternates between claustrophobia and floaty day dream. Watching it is like taking a nap on a hot, summer afternoon and waking up sticky, lethargic, and covered in sweat… uncomfortable but also satisfying somehow.

NOTE 1:

個人的には５人揃って世界一を目指している僕の夢は、かつみが諦めたことによって心の張り、精神的な緊張が緩み、風船に針を刺したときのように、事実上破れた。後に残るものは何か、もう何もないように思えた。僕は演奏しながら青春の貴重な時間を売っているだけなのだとおもうようになったいった。

２０１１　瞳みのる

(Originally published May 5, 2018)