Eejanaika or Why Not? (ええじゃないか, Ee ja nai ka) is a 1981 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura.[1] It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

Eejanaika / Why Not?
DVD cover for Eejanaika (1981)
Directed byShohei Imamura
Written byHisashi Yamauchi
Produced byShohei Imamura
Shoichi Ozawa
Shigemi Sugisaki
Jiro Tomoda
StarringKaori Momoi
Shigeru Izumiya
Ken Ogata
Shigeru Tsuyuguchi
Masao Kusakari
Yūko Tanaka
Mitsuko Baisho
Shōhei Hino
CinematographyShinsaku Himeda (as Masahisa Himeda)
Edited byKeiichi Uraoka
Music byShin’ichirō Ikebe
Distributed byImamura Productions, Shochiku Films Ltd., Beverly Pictures (USA)
Release dates
March 14, 1981 (Japan); January 8, 1981 (USA)
Running time
151 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot edit

The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ee 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.[3][4]

Cast edit

Awards edit

  • Japanese Academy Awards 1982:
  • Blue Ribbon Awards 1982:
  • Hochi Film Awards 1981:
  • Mainichi Film Concours 1982 :
    • Best Sound Recording: Shotaro Yoshida

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Eejanaika towa". kotobakn. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Eejanaika". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-30. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  3. ^ "Eejanaika". wowow. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  4. ^ "Eejanaika". Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 27 December 2020.

External links edit