Why Not? (1981)
The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society.
Director:
Shōhei Imamura
Writers:
Shōhei Imamura, Ken Miyamoto.
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Shigeru Izumiya as Genji |
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Kaori Momoi as Ine |
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Masao Kusakari as Itoman |
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Ken Ogata as Furukawa |
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Norihei Miki as Masuya |
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Junzaburō Ban as Toramatsu |
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Mitsuko Baisho as Oko |
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Shigeru Tsuyuguchi as Kinzo |
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Ако as Oyoshi |
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Shōhei Hino as Magoshichi |
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Shino Ikenami as Yoshino |
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Etsuko Ikuta as Nui |
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Hiroshi Inuzuka as Roku |
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Chōichirō Kawarasaki as Nakazawa |
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Kazuo Kitamura as Koide |
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Nenji Kobayashi as Matakichi |
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Yasuaki Kurata as Hanjiro |
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Shoichi Ozawa as Sakunojo |
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Sanshō Shinsui as Densuke |
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Kazuko Shirakawa as Yamikumo-dayu |
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Yuko Tanaka as Omatsu |
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Kibaji Tankobo as Gon |
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Minori Terada as Ijuin |
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Taiji Tonoyama as Jyosyuya |
| Directing | Shōhei Imamura | Director |
| Production | Shōhei Imamura | Producer |
| Production | Shigemi Sugisaki | Producer |
| Production | Shoichi Ozawa | Producer |
| Production | Jirô Tomoda | Producer |
| Production | Nobutsugu Tsubomi | Production Manager |
| Camera | Shinsaku Himeda | Director of Photography |
| Sound | Shinichiro Ikebe | Original Music Composer |
| Editing | Keiichi Uraoka | Editor |
| Lighting | Yasuo Iwaki | Lighting Technician |
| Writing | Shōhei Imamura | Screenplay |
| Writing | Ken Miyamoto | Screenplay |
| Art | Akiyoshi Satani | Art Direction |
| Sound | Shotaro Yoshida | Sound Recordist |
| Directing | Hideo Nanbu | Assistant Director |
