On February 15th, the press was invited to visit director Ninagawa Mika and actress Sawajiri Erika on the set of her comeback movie, "Helter Skelter".

"Helter Skelter" is based on Okazaki Kyoko's award-winning manga about a woman named 'Ririko' (Sawajiri), who received cosmetic surgery on her entire body, thus allowing her to become a shining top star in the�entertainment�industry. Eventually, however, her body starts to deteriorate due to the procedure's after-effects. During this time, 'Ririko' causes many incidents one right after another, drawing people around her into the fray.

The press were invited to watch the crew shoot the first meeting of 'Ririko' and her junior 'Yoshikawa Kozue' (played by Mizuhara Kiko). The atmosphere was full of nervous tension, but Momoi Kaori (who plays the manager of their agency) suddenly whipped out one ad-lib line after another, causing everyone on set to burst out with laughter.

In one scene, Sawajiri reclined on a couch and pressed Momoi with questions about something. Donning an expression of resentment, Momoi muttered, "Mama will cry herself to sleep today." This line wasn't in the script, and so Ninagawa had to shout "Cut!", but she couldn't hold back her laughter while doing so.

[caption id="attachment_221116" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Sawajiri and Ninagawa go through the next scene."][/caption]

Director Ninagawa commented, "There are so many serious dramas that it's a nice surprise to see how naturally we are able to interact with each other. I was overly serious when I was filming 'Sakuran', so maybe that's a sign that I have surprisingly become more mature myself."

Ninagawa revealed that she's been planning to do this movie for seven years. "I've never been so persistent about anything before. This is the only project that caught me and never let me go anymore. I really made a triumphant pose when I heard that I can finally turn it into a movie."

Her passion can be found in every detail of "Helter Skelter", especially in the design of that one room. From the chandelier to the various artworks, many of the props are from her private property. Moreover, the room was full of countless portraits of 'Ririko', which were all taken by Ninagawa herself. Having such a devoted director, it's also a given that all of the actors, especially Sawajiri, felt that they could trust her in everything she does.

"Helter Skelter" is going to open in Japan on July 14th.

You can check out more snapshots from the unique set below!

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Source: eiga.com