Organizers of the Montana Film Festival happening Oct. 10-15 pitched us on Tokyo Cowboy as a feature film with a Montana connection. At first, or for about 16 minutes, that seemed a stretch.
Because it’s a very Japanese movie! Not in a bad way, of course. Right away, you’re invested in this sort-of likable henchman—an acquisitions guy—taking over a chocolate company lovingly built by the owner, a kindly grandpa with no grandkids to hand it to. We want to know: Who is this suit? (Google tells me he’s Arata Iura, actor, model and fashion mogul.)
Before we really know more about Arata’s character, we meet another suit, a very cool woman who turns out to be both his boss and his girlfriend (and the co-writer of the film, Ayako Fujitani). The two think they’re on the DL, but everyone knows they’re together. Everyone also knows his job’s in trouble. Will she have to fire her boyfriend? Awkward.
The pivotal connection leading out of Tokyo and to a place high, wide and handsome happens when the guy takes a big swing to save his neck (and also save face with his lady). He’s going to take over a ranch in Montana and transform it into a profit center for Wagyu beef in America. To do that, he’s bringing an old guy who claims to know cows, but is better at telling whoppers and downing brews. Things happen when that guy meets a fabulous mechanical bull in a fabulous Montana bar.
All the tension shifts to Hideki, who has to figure out how to talk to the people who work there (and his low-clearance rental car and binders full of graphs aren’t helping). Tougher than those guys is their boss, Peg Shumway (in a great role for Robin Weigert, who’s Calamity Jane on Deadwood and probably familiar from other big roles, including in The Good German).
Also starring in the film: the perfect light of the Paradise Valley, where most of the rest of the film was shot. That happened in no small part to Missoula’s Jeri Rafter, producer on this film. In true Jeri-Rafter fashion, she gives credit to many others (as you’ll see below in our Q&A). Rafter has long been the person who makes things happen for films, filmmakers and crews in Montana.
She was the production manager on the buzzy Ted K about Lincoln’s most infamous library patron. More recently, she managed production on Butcher’s Crossing, starring Nicolas Cage and shot with lots of help from the Blackfeet Nation. That film is making its world premiere Oct. 19 in Cut Bank (!!), a day before it opens nationwide in theaters. It’s also part of the Montana Film Fest, although both showings are already sold out. (We’re sure it’s coming back to The Roxy, so you’ll get your chance if you didn’t get tickets.)
Those are a few of her marquee movies, but Rafter’s worked hard for years on lots of smaller films and film festivals. She’ll be back at The Roxy, where she’s also been known to toil, for an in-person Q&A at the end of both Montana Film Festival showings of Tokyo Cowboy, Oct. 13 (5:15 p.m.) and Oct. 15 (2 p.m.).
As foreshadowed above, The Pulp reached out with a few Qs and Rafter graciously provided As.
Can you tell me about your role as producer on Tokyo Cowboy?
I was involved from the very beginning and helped shape the story of the film with locations, cast and crew. I was both the first assistant director and the line producer, so created and managed the schedule and logistics for the film—basically where we would be and when every day! One of the pieces of this I am most proud of is figuring out how to film the scenes at the hot springs, which are Renova Hot Springs near Whitehall, and managing that location on a Saturday night with about 50 people watching us!
I am also really proud of the crew that came together for the film. Kate Lindsay did an incredible job making the sets come to life ESPECIALLY the quinoa (aside from The Pulp: It’s a pivotal part of the plot. Just trust me). She designed and implemented our quinoa field—we only had a little bit of real quinoa—the rest she made and painted by hand. She and art director Laura Lovo did a terrific job with all of the Montana looks. And it turned out fantastic.
I recognized Chico Resort, of course, and TJ’s Gas & Convenience in Livingston and the Old Saloon in Emigrant. Can you dish on these or other locations?
We had a ton of locations and I have to give a lot of credit to Shera Konen and Lukas Stone, my locations team, for helping find and lock down all the spots in the film. The ranch is the O’Hair Ranch belonging to Justin and Judy O’Hair in Paradise Valley and they are so supportive of indie filmmaking. Without this location, the film would not have been possible.
Our first day of filming in May, we had about an inch of snow and everything was covered! My director, Marc Marriott, was in total surprise and we considered pushing by a day, but we decided to change up a couple of things and start by shooting some interiors and by the time we popped back out a few hours later, it was in the 70s. Classic Montana weather!
The Hyatt House in Livingston is the bar interior and they were so generous with their space and getting the mechanical bull in there. It was a fun set to be on for a couple of days.
Chico was a tough location because they would only let us shoot there at night! So everything you saw on screen at Chico was shot in basically one day; we lit for daylight for our daytime scenes. They were wonderful to work with and I feel lucky that we were allowed to film in such a historical location.
I love when you get on social media and you’re like: I need a 1975 rusted truck and a shack in the woods. Go! What did you have to find for this one?
Funny enough, one of the hardest pieces to find was the rental car. We were looking for a very specific kind of small car. Initially we wanted a Prius, and we needed it to be blue or green, and of course we are on a budget. Thankfully, after multiple social posts and calls to dealers across the state, we found someone in Billings at Billings Auto Resource who finally had the type of car we needed.
I feel like there’s also a story with the guy who sold our hero his hat. True?
Virgil was played by George DeVries, and he did put his own spin on that character and the lines. He is a great local actor and was absolutely perfect for the role. Originally, we really tried to get the owner of the boot store to fill the role, and it just wasn’t quite the right fit, but the owner of that place was so generous and great. We had a grand time filming there. The shop is called Babione’s Wilson Boots Emporium (in Livingston) and the owner’s name is Virgil, so we kept the character name in honor of him.
I really dug the women bosses of this movie! Did you?
Of course! Loved Robin’s performance. We based her wardrobe off of Judy O’Hair, the owner of the real ranch.
Ayako Fujitani: She was a co-writer? And also, um, Steven Segal’s daughter?
Ayako was really the soul of this film. She brought such a nuanced sensibility to the writing, and her performance is amazing. I don’t know too much about her relationship with her dad, but yes she is his daughter!
Robin Weigert as ranch boss Peg: Does she have a Montana connection?
She doesn’t as far as I know, but she was the first one to jump on a horse and was constantly asking my stunt coordinator, Cooper Taylor, if she could go FASTER! She loved to ride and had great horse skills.
People might also recognize Jun Kunimura (Boss Tanaka in both of Trantino’s Kill Bills and Yashimoto in Ridley Scott’s Black Rain, his first non-Japanese film). Was he a goddamn delight? Because his character in this movie was a goddamn delight.
He kept the crew cracking up at every turn. He was so funny both on and off screen. Goddamn delight is right!
