"Why Can't You Become Prime Minister?" Director Arata Oshima A rare politician documentary that has reached a high level of entertainment [Director's Interview Vol.63]

Even though it is a party of hope, the election campaign is full of drama: “Overthrow, Yuriko Koike!”

Q: The second half of the film focuses on the 2017 election campaign in which Mr. Ogawa ran for the “Party of Hope.” This is the climax of the film, and although it's quite a long part, the drama is condensed and you won't get bored.

Oshima: It was a struggle to sort out the materials once and decide which parts to extract, so I was drawn to the fun of what I was able to capture.

Q: It's overwhelmingly interesting, but what particularly impressed me was Mr. Ogawa's family. Even your parents, wife, and daughter. It was refreshing to see a family of three generations contesting the election, which could be seen anywhere.

Oshima: That was a politician of Mr. Ogawa's age, and it was a family structure that happened to come about. In other words, the parents are not too old, and the children are of a certain age.

I was in love with Ogawa's parents back in 2003. Really good rural uncles and aunts. However, he is very intelligent and intelligent.

Q: As of 2003, your two young daughters were also captured in the video, and it's interesting to see them grow up.

Oshima: I knew it would be a good contrast to the footage from 2003, so I decided to show the camera to the families in 2017.

Q: Another thing that struck me was that at the time, Mr. Ogawa ran for office from the ``Party of Hope,'' which was founded by Yuriko Koike, and throughout the election he was wondering whether this was the right thing to do. Then, he finally says, ``Overthrow Yuriko Koike!'' Even though I am the leader of the party I belong to (lol).

Oshima: I'm happiest when that scene is praised. I was able to capture some really interesting moments as a documentary, and I don't think I would have been able to capture them if it wasn't for me. You can see a lot of things over there.

Q: I had the impression that director Oshima would keep a certain distance from his subjects, but this time I got the impression that he was really close to Mr. Ogawa.

Oshima: I think it really depends on the subject. Mr. Ogawa is the person I feel closest to so far. I think it's because we're close in age, we've spent a lot of time together, and we just really like each other.

It may be a little presumptuous to say this, but at some point I became his confidant when the cameras weren't rolling. Probably one of the many people outside of his family or office who asked him things like, ``How do you see the current political world?'' ``This is what I think, what do you think?'' I think it was me.

Q: That's why you were able to capture the words, "Down with Yuriko Koike!"

The biggest and only performance of this movie