“As a spectacle, it's stunning in its dynamism and the last half-hour presents one of the most libidinal depictions of a mass uprising since Eisenstein restaged the storming of the Winter Palace.” - Village VoiceAn exuberant history lesson, Eijanaika (or ‘Why not!' as the cry translates) depicts a particularly turbulent time in Japanese history leading up to the Meiji Restoration (1867-68). This superb-looking “historical documentary” is epic in every sense, although it takes its vitality from the plight of common people victimised by their own society. It was a multiple nominee and award-winner at the Awards of the Japanese Academy. “I wanted to observe how the masses at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, in a kind of uneasy situation that existed today, lived, acted, thought and died while idolising freedom.” - filmmaker Shohei Imamura