I like saying the words Yumi Katsura. I just like
it. The words feel sinuous, maybe a little tropical. Yumi Katsura.
I say them when I type them. Stop me, before I type again!
Today is Yumi Katsura day. Oh, there I go again... Her bridal house is our
20, to borrow the CB lingo the production department uses on their walkies for location.
The five scenes all take place pretty much in a row. Leila is being fitted for her
bridesmaid's gown, with a little help from Uncle Ernest, Mammy and an overzealous clerk.
Today, the front of Yumi's shop is marked by the everpresent
12K-lamp-on-a-platform that seems to follow the production around.
Today the awning in front of Yumi's place is nearly sparkling white. Allyn contracted with an awning cleaner who came last
Wednesday to make it shine. A few rogue birds have found it since, and thus another cycle
of wrack and redemption begins.
The shop is not large. On the second floor is a fitting room, the windows
of which you can see in the picture above. I don't know the facts of fashion, but I'm told
that the gowns that the movie is using cost $10,000. The fitting room, I'm sure, on a
regular day, is elegant and comfortable.
Today it is full of gear and crew. Joe
asks: "Can we get any more people in here?"
Janna: "Maybe."
Joe: "I think we need more people up here. We need Eddy."
Eddy happens to walk up at that moment.
Joe says: "Eddy, we need more people in here."
Eddy doesn't have a clue what Joe is talking about. "Anything you
want," he says.
The scenes shot at Yumi Katsura, O How I Love to Say Those Words!, are
simple enough:
65) The clerk hog ties Leila into a bustier.
66) Mammy, happy as pork, selects accessories.
67) Leila's chest heaves portentously as she's buttoned into a wedding
dress.
68) The Bride of Satan is presented to Ernest and Mammy.
It is a pleasure watching Shalom wearing
different clothes. I can't tell you what it is that that she does, but when she steps out
of the dressing room the clothes look right. They hang right, if I can say that without
sounding like I'm in over my head.
It is also a pleasure to watch Shalom and David
work together. There is a an easy-going trust between them, a comfort-level that makes it
easier to play together affectionately. At one point David asks if it is alright if he
tugs on Leila's bustier.
"Is it secure? I wouldn't want to pull it off."
"We're working on it," Shalom said, as Pam worked giant safety pins into the breach, tightening the
fit.
"Good, good," David said. "That's good."
When they do the scene David dives in, adjusting and twisting the bridal
gear with enthusiasm. Shalom, whose face is resilient, pliable, expressive, like an
actress, responds easily. She may wear clothes for a living, but her character doesn't
like dressing up one bit.
Peter Kreutzer
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