New Japanese Local Election Documentary

[Mulboyne]

Variety Review of "Campaign"
First feature docu by Gotham-based filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda is a wry, fly-on-the-wall look at local politics, Japanese style -- and in particular, the mighty machine of the country's ruling Liberal Democratic Party. One-man crew Soda follows a former Tokyo U. classmate who stands as an LDP "parachute" candidate in a crucial Kawasaki city council election in Oct. '05. Kazuhiko Yamauchi's greatest asset is an ability to keep smiling in the face of public indifference and criticism from his support staff and (in a very polite way) party higher-ups. Sans any kind of political experience, he repeats the same meaningless phrases, puts up with wife Sayuri's private moans about being treated as an ornament and watches his own savings diminish as the campaign wears on. When LDP head Junichiro Koizumi visits to boost the campaign, Yamauchi hardly gets to say hello.

A shorter version of this film is due to turn up on TV after the cinema release. There's an interview with the director here. He also has a bilingual blog which includes the review above. There's a trailer on the film's official site here

[Doctor Stop]

How come Japanese kids don't throw eggs at sound trucks? They don't know the fun that they're missing.

[Mulboyne]

I like the fact that the candidate, Yamauchi, is going along with the director to the film festivals and holding mock campaign speeches to promote the film.

[Greji]

How come Japanese kids don't throw eggs at sound trucks? They don't know the fun that they're missing.

Water balloons! The harassers choice! If I threw one, I threw a thousand when I was growing up. They present some wonderful possibilities here in Japan.

[Doctor Stop]

I've never heard of a pieing in Japan.

[dimwit]

Growning our own produce made rotten tomatos the weapon of choice around my neighborhood.

The film actually look like it would be worth a view. Is it out now?

[Mulboyne]

The film is at the festivals now. If it gets taken up, it will have some theatrical release before the DVD comes out. A ninety minute version will be shown on PBS and another version is included in a global TV series on democracy.

[GomiGirl]

Do they have aq big feature of the hand waving mini-busses that are poluting the city now with loudspeakers just repeating the name of the candidate over and over. The professional handwavers crack me up.. they just wave out of the bus windows.. no information about policies of the candidate just handwaving.

It is all moot anyway as I can't vote.

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: 'Campaign' filmmaker takes a peek inside politics

In the fall of 2005, Kazuhiro Soda, a New York resident since 1993, was preparing a trip to Japan to shoot his first independent film. By chance, he heard that an old school buddy, Kazuhiko Yamauchi, was running in a by-election for the Kawasaki city assembly in Kanagawa Prefecture. He dumped his original idea and decided to get into politics. "Yama-san was running as a Liberal Democratic Party candidate. That was very appealing. The LDP is the most successful party in Japan. It has controlled the government for most of the postwar years. To observe an LDP election campaign would provide a lesson in Japanese democracy and political style, I thought," Soda, 36, says...more...

[Mulboyne]

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The short one hour version of this documentary was shown as part of the BBC Four Japan Season and It is well worth seeing if you can find it anywhere. Apart from giving you an idea of how local election campaigns are conducted, it also shows up how rude and offensive some Japanese can be.

Kazuhiko Yamauchi, is asked to run for an empty LDP seat in a Kawasaki local by-election just six weeks before voting day. It's an important seat for the local party because it is the swing vote in the council. If they win it, they retain control but, if the Democrats get it, then they will have control. The LDP has therefore ordered the local support groups to canvass for Yamauchi. They are willing to do this but there is a catch. When the next general election comes around, all the support groups will go back to working for their own LDP council member and, in a sense, Yamauchi will be a competitor for their votes so they need to work hard enough to get him elected but also want to avoid creating too much of a fuss about him that it might hurt their own candidates in the future.

What you see, then, is the local party machine coming out in public for Yamauchi while losing no opportunity to criticize and humiliate him in private. He decides to suck it up and keep apologizing on the basis that he can do what he wants when he gets elected. His wife is less tolerant and you can see her steaming at the way he is treated. When she is told she ought to quit her job as a way of thanking the support groups, it almost brings on a meltdown.

Yamauchi probably is a bit of a bumbler and not a great candidate but the open hostility is a bit of a revelation. You can also see the whole sempai kohai thing going on. It occurs to one guy that, if Yamauchi is elected, they will have to address him as "sensei". "Jesus," he says out loud.

[Dragonette]

His wife is less tolerant and you can see her steaming at the way he is treated. When she is told she ought to quit her job as a way of thanking the support groups, it almost brings on a meltdown.

Yamauchi probably is a bit of a bumbler and not a great candidate but the open hostility is a bit of a revelation. You can also see the whole sempai kohai thing going on. It occurs to one guy that, if Yamauchi is elected, they will have to address him as "sensei". "Jesus," he says out loud.

After Senkyo opened here at MOMA we went out to dinner with Soda and his wife Kiyoko who is also really talented, Yamauchi, and a J-psychiatrist who was a tech advisor for Seishin (see below). I was disappointed that Yamauchi's wife couldn't make the trip (she's home in Japan with their new baby) - I really wanted to meet her, but I was glad to hear that they're still together.

Yamauchi lost the following election, which is just as well, since he definitely does not have a political personality - he's laid back and non-devious]Seishin (Mental)[/URL] followed Senkyo and is another good documentary. This one's about the treatment of mental illness in Japan. As before, Soda doesn't comment overtly but lets the audience draw their own conclusions. It's definitely worth seeing. Have any FGs seen it yet? I'd love to hear what you think...