"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]

A scene was hastily added just before the release to express the coronavirus pandemic.

Q: It was surprising that there was a remote interview at the end of the movie. The shooting date is May 13th, which is right before the movie was released.

Oshima: At the time of the first press preview, that scene didn't exist. So there are two finished versions, each three minutes longer than the first version. The first flyer says the running time is 116 minutes, but it's actually 119 minutes (lol)

Q: Why did you suddenly add remote interviews?

Oshima: I really wasn't sure whether to add it or not. However, I thought it would be a bad idea for the documentary film to be released in June 2020 to end before the coronavirus outbreak. However, some people said that it felt like it was added on, or that it was clunky.

Q: Indeed, if I were the producer, I might want to end the movie with the scene before that.

Oshima: When I was editing the last scene, the editor and producer said to me, ``We shot that, but isn't there a way to end it with the scene before that?'' Actually, I thought so too. But in order to shake off my feelings, I decided to say, "No!"

Why is it difficult for politics to become entertainment in Japan?