Why Not?

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.

Cast

Shigeru Izumiya

Shigeru Izumiya

as Genji

Kaori Momoi

Kaori Momoi

as Ine

Masao Kusakari

Masao Kusakari

as Itoman

Ken Ogata

Ken Ogata

as Furukawa

Norihei Miki

Norihei Miki

as Masuya

Junzaburō Ban

Junzaburō Ban

as Toramatsu

Mitsuko Baisho

Mitsuko Baisho

as Oko

Shigeru Tsuyuguchi

Shigeru Tsuyuguchi

as Kinzo

Ако

Ако

as Oyoshi

Shōhei Hino

Shōhei Hino

as Magoshichi

Reviews

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