Why Not? (1981) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language

1981 · 151 mins · Japanese

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Directed by

Shôhei Imamura

Starring

Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Norihei Miki, Shigeru Izumiya, Kaori Momoi, Mitsuko Baisho, Kazuko Shirakawa

The film captures the carnivalesque spirit of 1867‑68 Japan, embodied by the chant “Ei ja nai ka” (“Why not?”) as the nation heads toward the Meiji Restoration. It examines the era’s social and political turmoil, culminating in a raucous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace that turns into a massacre. Imamura highlights ordinary and marginal characters rather than the elite.