gere

Richard Gere began filming the movie Hachiko yesterday in Bristol at the house where his character lives in the film.

“We’re trying to camouflage issues,” said a production coordinator on the film, who refused to give the house’s address for fear the public would descend on the High Street location in hopes of getting a glimpse of Gere. “We’re trying to keep away from the public,” she said, even though the army of film trucks that surround a movie site are always a dead giveaway.

Joan Allen, who plays the wife of Gere’s character in the film, was not expected on the set yesterday. However, the actress, who has three Academy Award nominations to her credit, was in the state, according to sources. Gere was working yesterday with the Akita dog that plays the title character in the movie.

Hachiko is based on a true story that is beloved in Japan. The real Hachiko was an Akita dog who was brought to Tokyo by his owner, a college professor, in 1924. The dog would see his master off from the front door of his house and then greet him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya train station.

After the professor’s death in 1925, Hachiko returned every day to the station to wait for him, and did so for the next 10 years. The new station master, who arrived in 1928, took a shine to the dog and even set up a room for the dog to sleep in. Several articles were written about Hachiko’s faithfulness and in 1932 he gained national attention when his story was printed in Tokyo’s largest newspaper. In 1934 a bronze statue of his likeness was erected at the Shibuya station, with Hachiko himself present for the unveiling.

Although the statue was melted down for the war effort during World War II, it was replaced in the late 1940s and continues to be a popular meeting spot for people waiting between trains. A popular Japanese film was made of Hachiko’s story a decade ago.

Hachiko will be filmed on locations across the state, from downtown Bristol to the University of Rhode Island campus in Kingston to the Woonsocket railway station. The filmmakers are not expected to get to Woonsocket this week, concentrating instead on scenes in Bristol. It is expected to shoot in Rhode Island through February, according to producer Bill Johnson, and the film crew will return in the spring “because the story takes place over a number of years and we need to shoot the different seasons.” It is being directed by Lasse Hallstrom whose most recent film was The Hoax, also starring Gere.

mjanuson@projo.com