The Contestant-A Compelling Story Shown At Romford Vue.

5th December 20245th December 2024 Francesca Lilleystone min read

Film and Theatre Reviewer Holly Larkin visited Romford Vue for a special screening of The Contestant this week.

For most people, being locked away naked in a room alone while being surveillanced by a global audience would be a nightmare – however for aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi, this was a harsh reality.
The Contestant follows the compelling story surrounding the infamous Japanese case study where Nasbui found himself stripped naked, all while living in a small room, making a living off prizes from magazine and radio competitions as the public watched his every move for a year. Producer, Denpa Shonen used Nasbui’s desperate call for fame and told the contestant winning prizes that totaled in 1 million yen would be his way out; Nasbui was allowed to also eat prizes won – which ranged from rice to dog food. Nasbui experiences humiliation, starvation and isolation as he becomes a national laughingstock for the Japanese public.
Clair Titley’s documentary is intense and emotional – hearing from Nasubi’s own words as he experienced the unknown, something he was told was ‘luck’ as we view the ‘contestant’ in his true self, retelling his story 26 years later. Between the archived footage and interviews with a BBC correspondent, as well as Nasbubi’s own mother the documentary demonstrates a dark, horrifying undertone as the quiet, solemn experiences of Nasbui’s suffering in the small room is met with cackles and humour, even through the joke of adding an eggplant emoji over his genitals to play on the translations of his nickname. Audiences also learn about Nasbui’s past with bullying, learning the difficulties of the line blurring to be laughing with people compared to being laughed at – Nasbui’s desperation to fit in with those around him, making him the perfect target for this experiment.

Though Titley mostly uses Japanese Producer, Denpa Shonen’s footage, it absolutely works in the documentary’s favor – alluding to the harsh and inescapable injustices Nasbui unknowingly signed up to, leaving nothing to the imagination. Audiences are continuously reminded of the hardships experienced, following this scandalous approach of what audiences like to call ‘entertainment’. Though, little is discussed on how this experiment was even allowed in the first place, little to no conversation regarding the tolerance of the Japanese public and despite the film’s ending, many truths and explanations seem to be left unsaid.

Though some redemption is given to Nasbui at the end, discussing his new mission within his hometown Fukushima, it feels as if more should’ve been done as preparation for the hardship Nasubi dealt with.
In hindsight, it does question the astroties excused in reality television for ‘entertainment’ and makes reality shows like I’m celebrity get me out of here seem not so bad after all…
The Contestant is available to watch at Vue in Romford on December 2nd.

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