Japanese Reviews Reviews

Documentary Review: Campaign (2007) Kazuhiro Soda

was working for a production company in New York, producing more than 50 productions for the Japanese State Television, NHK. Inspired by the documentaries of Frederick Wiseman, he began to establish his own “observation”-style. Soda, who used to be tied to scripts and schedules in his former job, now chooses an uncaged concept of filmmaking. No scripts, no research, but only the camera and the reality in front of him.

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The director returned to Japan in 2005 to shoot a movie about mental health but ended up documenting the election of an old classmate, Yamauchi Kazuhiko, who ran for the council of Kawasaki. Hereby, “Campaign” was pretty much done by accident and got its release in 2007, winning the Peabody Award for Best Documentary.

From the beginning, it is obvious that Yamauchi is not the ideal candidate for this seat. He has never been involved in politics and is a so-so businessman. Yamauchi lives off his wife, who is forced to withdraw from her work because it sheds a bad light on her husband. The party wants her to be the smiling “Kanai” (“Housewife”) instead, who cooks and stays at home. Of course, this leads to trouble but Yamauchi begs her to accept the will of the party leaders, the will of the so-called “Sensei”.

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Soda poses the question: Can a candidate with no charisma and no experience but with a political lobby backing him, win an election? What sounds like the outline of a satirical comedy, is the bitter reality. Yamauchi conformational attitude fits perfectly well with the strict rules and the hierarchy of the LDP party, which he is running for. LDP, the Liberal Democratic Party, runs Japan for more than 50 years. The current Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, as well as his predecesscor, Junichiro Koizumi, descend from LDP. Relying on a strong traditional votership, Yamauchi could count on the electoral behaviour of LDP voters.

“Make sure you keep bowing, even if it's a telephone pole.”, is one of the advices that Yamauchi gets from his “Sensei”. Always repentant and enthusiastic about improving his appearance, the candidate obeys every instruction without ever posing any questions. Yamauchi political agenda is never discussed. Apart from a few notes, his intentions and promises are very superficial and bear no real concept. One could say cynically, Yamauchi's political approach resembles Soda's way of making movies.

As we follow Yamauchi for 12 days on his campaign trail, we get to see bizarre speeches on empty streets and cringy appearances at schools and retirement homes. Soda refrains from analyzing or commenting on these images, which leaves space for interpretation.

“Campaign” is filmed with digital hand camera and contains the raw concept of other documentarians like Kazuo Hara or Noriaki Tsuchimoto. But unlike his colleagues, Soda focuses not on the victims but on the decision makers. He shows how the construct of power is build in Japan and the complex process behind it. By presenting the questionable candidate, the audience tend to scrutinize the political process. “Campaign” reveals old decrepit structures made by old men, misogynistic and often humiliating. Yamauchi himself is on the edge of toppling into this system, risking the relationship with his wife. It would be funny, if it were not so sad.

All of this seems to make a horrible impression on the foreign viewer. The truth is that “Campaign” shows the routine of Japanese politics. Soda's case study is not even exaggerating. Everyone who has visited the country during campaign season has probably seen the loudspeaker cars going around and the pathetic efforts of spreading the word about the candidates. Politics is tough, even if one party wins for half a century almost unbroken. Kazuhiro Soda enables us to witness this essential carnival of Japanese society.

About the author

Alexander Knoth

Based in Vienna.
Focussed on Japan.
Master's degree in Theatre, Film and Media Studies.
I write to get rid of rose-colored spectacles and to introduce unknown facets of Asian cinema.

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