Senkyo (Campaign)

2007. Japan. Directed by Kazuhiro Soda. Soda's debut feature, shot in cinéma vérité style, follows his former Tokyo University classmate Kazuhiko Yamauchi's run as a "parachute" candidate for Japan's powerful Liberal Democratic Party in a crucial local district. With no prior experience in politics, no supporters, a lack of charisma, and dwindling funds, Yamauchi's greatest asset is his ability to keep smiling under any circumstances, amid humiliations public, political, and private. This fly-on-the-wall view of street-level politics cleverly reveals much about the true nature of "democracy." In Japanese; English subtitles. 119 min.