"Beethoven Fabrication" Japanese cast transforms into 19th century Westerners! Check out the meticulous costumes and hair and makeup. New scene cuts released.

New stills have been released for the film "Beethoven Fabrication" (directed by Seki Kazuaki, set to be released on September 12th), which was written by comedian Bakarhythm and stars actor Yuki Yamada. The film features Japanese actors playing 19th century Westerners, and the stills reveal the attention to detail in the costumes and hair and makeup.

This live-action film is based on Shiho Kagehara's historical non-fiction book "Beethoven Fabrication: A Famous Producer Lies" (published by Kawade Bunko). The film focuses on the scandal surrounding the alteration of Beethoven's phrasebook by Schindler, who served as Beethoven's secretary and wrote his posthumous biography.

The film is based on an interesting premise that only a modern-day second-year middle school student can imagine in 19th-century Vienna through a conversation with his music teacher, and was shot by Japanese actors, including the main characters and extras. The costumes and hair and makeup were carefully designed down to the smallest detail to create a sense of realism.

Kumiko Iijima, the stylist for this film who has also worked on costumes for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Momoiro Clover Z, explains, "It would be difficult to recreate the real thing in terms of preparation time, so making everything from scratch was not an option, but we wanted to be particularly particular about the cravats (the prototype of ties) as they are a key part of enjoying fashion, so we created 40 of them in different materials and 20 original stand-up collar shirts."

In one of the important scenes, Furuta plays the premiere of Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony," in which he often wears a black jacket in other film productions, but Iijima chose the green color that appears in the original work. She apparently spoke to director Seki directly about it, saying, "It shines divinely when the light hits it, and it's one of my favorite costumes. The ruffles on the cuffs of the jacket are also cute," making it a divine costume that captures the legendary moment when Beethoven became a "great man."

Beethoven is usually just a "dirty old man," but his loungewear was deliberately made from stained and damaged old clothes that were disassembled, soiled with coffee, and rubbed with sandpaper to make them worn out, all of which were then processed to express the character's personality.

You can also see valuable costumes from different eras, such as the coat worn by Schindler, played by Yamada, from the Victorian era, and the three-piece suit worn by Sayer, played by Shota Sometani, from the 1920s.

Komamizu Yuki, who was in charge of hair and makeup, looked back on the filming, saying, "Director Seki requested that we don't want it to look like a comedy sketch, so we want hair and makeup that suits the cast members themselves, rather than wigs. When we looked into hairstyles from that time, we found that there were many unique styles, such as curly, frizzy hair, unique partings, and mysterious silhouettes, so we used that as inspiration."

Yamada, who played Schindler from his youth to old age, did the hair and makeup for him. "When he was young I used heavy makeup, but from around the time Beethoven died I used light makeup that didn't even cover his beard. For the old-age makeup, I used latex to create wrinkles and roughen the skin to make him look as old as possible," he said, giving the appearance of naturally aging the character and adding realism to the footage.

Beethoven's portraits are very memorable, and Furuta said, "It was easy to imagine him as Beethoven because his own hairstyle was almost like Beethoven's even without any hairstyle. I tried to create a contrast between his usual messy appearance and the cool look he has when he's on stage."

He also revealed his attention to detail, saying, "The extras are different for Europe and America, so I'd be happy if you could compare the differences."

The unprecedented premise of "Japanese actors playing 19th century Westerners" has led to the production being ingeniously crafted down to the smallest detail. The costumes and hair and makeup are also noteworthy.

This film was shot using cutting-edge virtual production technology, with a 3D CG background displayed on a large LED display and the subject filmed in front of it. This recreates the world of 19th century Vienna without leaving Japan. Furthermore, Beethoven's masterpieces are used throughout the film. The realistic images and Beethoven's masterpieces, combined with the unique sound of a cinema, provide a new cinematic experience that can be enjoyed by both the eyes and the ears.