Re: Interview with "The Men Who Won't Give Up" about the movie "Run for Candidacy"

Interview and text: Masamasa Nishino

Do you remember the documentary film "Candidacy" featured on MAGCUL.NET in March last year? This film, which follows people who are called "fringe candidates" in elections, may seem like a joke at first glance, but it is surprising in many ways, with laughs and touching moments, and I was shocked by the content. In the previous feature, I interviewed producer Tetsuya Kinouchi. The film has since traveled around Japan and has even been invited to film festivals in Germany and Switzerland, showing that the reaction is spreading not only in Japan but also around the world. Now that the film "Candidacy" is finally available for nationwide rental, MAGCUL.NET conducted another exclusive interview. The interview guests were director Toshimitsu Fujioka, who we were unable to speak to last time, Mac Akasaka, who is the key visual of the film, and mountaineer Fumitaka Kuriki, who is attempting Everest alone and without oxygen in the fall, making for a luxurious lineup. We asked "men who never give up" about the film "Candidacy" just before the nationwide rental start commemorative event "An Evening of Men Who Never Give Up". Please take a look.

<Performer Profile>
Nobukazu Kuriki
Born in Hokkaido in 1982. After joining the university mountaineering club, he started climbing and climbed the highest peaks on six continents. He then climbed four 8,000m peaks solo and without oxygen. He attempted Everest four times, not in the spring when there are many climbing teams, but in the autumn when the weather conditions are harsh. He will be live-streaming his climbs on the internet to share his adventure with all those who climb the invisible mountain. In the fall of 2012, he suffered frostbite on both hands, both feet and his nose on the west ridge of Everest, and lost most of the nine fingers on his hands, but in July 2014, he made a spectacular comeback by soloing and summiting Broad Peak (8,047m) without oxygen.

Toshimitsu Fujioka
Born in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1976. Graduated from Ritsumeikan University in 1999 / Graduated from Osaka Visual Arts in 2001 / Worked at a TV commercial production company in 2002 / Directed and screened Missiles on Fujiyama in 2005 / Directed and screened the film "Candidate" in 2013

Mac Akasaka
Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1948. Businessman with an annual turnover of 5 billion yen / President of the Smile Party / Chairman of the Smile Therapy Association / Graduated from Kyoto University / Former employee of Itochu Corporation / Lost elections 5 times (as of November 2011) / No Smile Party members (as of November 2011)

The film "Candidacy" / How we met and how it came to be produced

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- Thank you for joining us today. Fujioka and Mac are in a relationship where you are the photographer and the subject of the photograph, but did you know each other originally, Kuriki-san? Could you please tell us about your own activities?

Kuriki : This is the first time I've met Director Fujioka. I'm a mountaineer, and there are 14 8,000m-class mountains in the world, and I've climbed four of them alone, and I've broadcast live footage of the climbs under the theme of "sharing adventures." I've tried Everest four times during tough times, and in fact, in the fall of 2012, I got severe frostbite on Everest and had to have nine fingers on both hands amputated from the second joint. When I was feeling down, I came across the movie "The Candidate" and was so moved by it that I went to the cinema four times. And I almost joined the Smile Party (laughs). By the way, I once had a chance to say hello to Mac when he was coming out of the Polepole Higashi Nakano cinema, but I was drunk so I don't think he remembers (laughs).

Mac : My weakness is that I'm always drunk. By the way, if you pay 2000 yen, you can join the Smile Party. No screening (laughs).

Fujioka : Is that so? (laughs)

Kuriki : By the way, that was also the first time I met producer Kinouchi-san, and he contacted me about today's talk, so I really wanted to participate and came here. (*The interview was recorded before the rental start commemorative event. The three of us had a talk after the recording.)

- You're a big fan, aren't you? Why did this movie resonate with you so much?

Kuriki : I think the way you live your life is important. In the world of the Internet, people tend to look at things superficially, like success or failure, but I think you still need to see through a person's way of life and their true nature. Everyone laughs when they watch the movie "Candidacy." I think there are parts where it's half mocking, but when they're confronted with the true nature of things, they're shocked... I've never seen a documentary like that before.

- I had the same impression when I first saw it. I laughed at first, but as it got to the end, the questions came back to me like a boomerang, and it really made me think. I'd like to ask Mac-san here, how did you feel when you first got the request to do the shoot?

Mac : At the time, my secretary was handling the matter, but I had heard that it wasn't a film that would be screened by professionals, but rather the kind of film that amateurs would show only to close friends, and since it was around the time of the Osaka gubernatorial election, I thought, "If that's the case, why not give it a try?"

- So it wasn't originally planned to be a movie.

Fujioka : I think in the initial proposal, I explained that it was an interview project to be screened at mini-theaters and on the Internet. Then, when I went to meet Mac, he said to me, "You guys are lucky because I'm running for election right now!" (laughs).

Mac : That's why I did it for free (laughs).

Fujioka : At first, it was a project like "Let's interview people who talk about their dreams and check if they really want to do it." At that time, I had given up on being a film director and returned to my parents' house in Yamaguchi, and I had a feeling that I wanted to try it one more time. But when I thought that it would be impossible to do it now, I thought, "No, wait a minute." There must be many more people in Japan who are doing what they want to do even though they are even more stupid than me and everyone tells them that it's no good. I thought that by meeting such people, I would be able to see what I am trying to do now as a "goal" rather than a dream. So at first, I was interested in watching Toyama Koichi 's political broadcast, so as I looked into various things, I thought, "If that's the case, let's group it with political broadcasts," and when I looked into whether there was anyone famous, I came across Mac.

- You didn't originally plan to narrow it down to Mac, did you?
As you were filming, did the idea of shooting something that would closely follow Mac come up right away?

Fujioka : The original theme was "dream chasers," so Mac is a famous person, isn't he? I can understand why he's going to be in it. But I really wanted to include people who aren't famous. I even discussed with Kinouchi (the producer) that "wouldn't it be enough to just focus on Mac?" But if we do that, it would mean discriminating against the fringe candidates, and at least when I become an audience member, I'll definitely be concerned. Why are we discriminating?

- I think it's easy to misunderstand that you're just highlighting people who stand out, but was there something that led you to narrow it down to Mac?

Fujioka : I didn't want to end up with the impression that we ended up with Mac by a process of elimination. At first, I shot scenes with just Hashimoto, and then put together a film about the Osaka gubernatorial election, which ended up being about two and a half hours long, but I only felt anger toward Mac. He never said anything good.

Kuriki : You can't do it? (laughs)

Fujioka : Yes. "Don't show me something ridiculous!" But that's not it. There is a scene in the movie where he interacts with Hashimoto, and when Mac dragged out the words "Please smile!" from Hashimoto, I was a little moved on set for some reason. I want everyone to experience that. I can't help it, but somewhere I kind of admire him as a man... It's like saying I'm on an equal footing with Spielberg. He's a film director, so in terms of the category, we should be on an equal footing, but it's hard to say. Mac does that, so I wanted to convey that I thought, "I want to be like that too," but it was hard to get across. I think the scene where he insults a Kyoto University student leaves a very bad impression (laughs), but in another scene he goes to the police...

This person is strong against both the strong and the weak, or should I say, he's like a giant god warrior (laughs). I think most people are weak to one or the other.

Image: A scene of him giving a speech in front of Kyoto University (C)word＆sentence

- I'm sorry, but there were a lot of crazy scenes with Mac in the movie, but there were times when Mac looked at the situation very calmly. I think there were some parts that made you think, "Huh? Was that performance planned?"

Mac : That was a coincidence. I started dancing in the middle of my speech because I didn't want to get angry at the "go home" calls and be rude to the other person, so I just danced to the "go home" calls as my background music. I think that kind of instantaneous performance is genius, if I say so myself (laughs). If I had spoken seriously in that situation, no one would have listened to me, and the atmosphere would have become dull. It's important to stay calm and make a decision at times like that.

- Mac's expression as he gazes out at the crowd in the Osaka Namba scene was also striking. How were you really feeling at that time?

Mac : It's a feeling of defeat. Like, "I lost."

Fujioka : So that's how you felt?

Mac : That's right. I tried my best to bite into the other person, but I couldn't get past them. I had a look of complete defeat. So I drank to drown my sorrows.

Everyone: lol

Fujioka : But what I thought was really amazing at that time was that he was given the time to speak in that environment. I think a normal person would have been satisfied, but he felt defeated and started circling around Hashimoto's campaign car. And then he waited for the speech to finish before interjecting again (laughs). I was really impressed by that kind of "persistence."

Mac : We were completely defeated, but we were comrades in arms. I just wanted to say hello, but that wasn't allowed. Also, in Toyama Koichi's campaign broadcast, he said, "If I win, everyone will be scared!" Just like that, I never thought he would give me time to speak. Matsui (current governor of Osaka Prefecture), I asked for five minutes, but he gave me ten minutes (laughs).

Fujioka : That's so typical of the Kansai region (laughs).

From the left: A scene from Akihabara / Mr. Mac staring at the crowd in defeat at Namba, Osaka
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Attack is of interest/subsequent changes

- The film was a success not only in Japan but also overseas. Has there been any change in the reactions not only to the film but also to you yourself?

Mac : We've been getting more friend requests on Facebook from overseas. I think it's because we screened the film overseas. Also, recently, when I'm giving a speech on the street, more people say to me, "I saw the movie 'The Candidate'." Most of the comments are just praising my son (laughs). But there's also a lot of positive feedback, like, "I thought he was stupid, but he really thinks about things," so I'm really grateful for that. At first, people wrote things online like, "Mac is a cockroach," and people spat on me and kicked me during my speeches, so it was pretty tough. I also want to apologize to the female student at Kyoto University! (Everyone: laughs)

Fujioka : Mr. Kuriki, you do a lot of things like broadcasting live while climbing and posting messages on the internet, but do you ever have any unpleasant experiences when doing those things?

Kuriki : Well, it's the internet world, so I guess there's a lot of good and bad stuff, but when you're climbing a mountain you think, "I wish I could die" (laughs).

Fujioka : I'm sure Mac has been told that a lot too (laughs).

Kuriki : I think it's usually tough to be told "Go die". But I don't really care about those negative words. I don't really care, I think it's a chance. The reason is that if you really think "he's no good", you'll be indifferent. I'm not Mac, but in 2007, I uploaded a video of us climbing Cho Oyu, an 8000m mountain in Tibet, together with Toshio Tsuchiya, a producer of Denpa Shonen. We climbed for three weeks, but the weather got bad near the summit and we had to go down.

I was close, but you can't attempt mountain climbing again unless you're alive, so I decided to head down and when I got back, I found a lot of nasty things written online, like "Kuriki couldn't make it." But when I tried again and succeeded at the summit, people who had written "Kuriki can't make it" and "He should just die" started writing just one word: "Thank you," and opinions changed a bit. I began to think at that moment that these people didn't really feel that way, that they were just feeling depressed and heading towards Kuriki, and that in reality they had something like a passionate desire.

- What did you think of the film? I'm curious to see how it will be received overseas, especially since the electoral systems overseas are different from Japan's, and the system where you can run for office with a deposit of 3 million yen.

Fujioka : I don't know. But they were laughing a lot. I got the strong impression that everyone was laughing and having fun, so I wonder if they see it more as entertainment than as a political thing. Also, there are fringe candidates overseas too. I've heard of people who suddenly appear dressed strangely in Switzerland, I've seen them in America, they're everywhere. So I'd like to gather people like that and hold an international conference (laughs).

Kuriki : It's going to be amazing!

Fujioka : Right. So it's not like this film deals with an unusual motif.

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- I have a question for Director Fujioka. I feel like this film has a message from the production team, a contrast between minorities and majorities, and a criticism of the larger social framework. It may be an exaggeration to say that it's aggressive, but was there ever a time when you were conscious of sending such a message?

Fujioka : That's not true at all. I started out with the idea of "trying it out for now," so after filming I thought about what my message was, and ultimately I wondered if I could make a film that would create an environment where everyone could run for office. From there, I narrowed it down to fringe candidates, and I wanted to make it look like not only the production side, but also the voters were being led in that direction, so I went ahead with it.

Thoughts on the film "Candidacy"

- Finally, could you give a message to those who are viewing this site?

Fujioka : It's a difficult one. I think I want people to accept Mac after all. If the world becomes accepting, I think I can run for the world when I start something from scratch. If I had rejected Mac, I think the world would be a place where I would be criticized in the same situation when I start from scratch... If the people who watch this movie could at least watch over people who run for "something", I think there is a possibility that I can live true to myself. Even if I don't belong to an organization, I can be alone. You never know until you try something, so I want people to watch over me without rejecting anything.

Mac : The greatness of this movie is not only due to the high level of skill of the production team in terms of the cinematography, editing, and musical direction, but also in the catch phrase. "You haven't even lost yet," is a great catch phrase. Taking action is a big deal. Even if it's something small, please take action. Knowing and not doing is the same as not knowing. No matter how much knowledge you have, no matter how great your planning skills or ideas, it only takes one action. Making a phone call or talking to someone is an action. Without action, nothing will start.

Kuriki : Actually, I'm not that particular about mountain climbing. I just want to increase the number of people who simply take on the challenge of mountain climbing.

"I gave up before, but now I'm going to try this," and I really want to cherish those kinds of feelings... I think it's very similar to what Director Fujioka said earlier, but I think everyone has a lot of passion deep inside, so I hope that people around them will support that passion instead of suppressing it themselves. Also, as I explained at the beginning, when I got severe frostbite and lost my fingers, this movie really saved me, making me think, "Ah, everyone is climbing different mountains after all." Anyway, it's a great movie, so I want more people to see it.

- Thank you for taking the time to see me today!

The movie "Candidacy" is now available to rent at video rental stores nationwide! If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check it out.