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Why Not?

Why Not?

  • Overview
  • Cast
  • Crew
  • Recommendations

Status

Released

Release Date

Jan 8, 1981

Runtime

2h 31m

Genres

Drama

User Score

64%

Original Title

ええじゃないか

Production Companies

Imamura Productions, Shochiku

Director

Shōhei Imamura

Description

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.