In 1998 a new programme debuted on Japanese TV; Susunu! Denpa Shōnen (translated as "Do not proceed! Crazy youth"). Running for four seasons, each with a slightly different emphasis, the format concentrated not on teams but a single person, and Clair Titley's astonishing documentary focuses on the 'lucky' contestant in the show's first season (Hamatsu Tomoaki, better known as Nasubi), entitled 'Denpa Shōnen teki Kenshō Seikatsu' ('Denpa Shōnen's Prize Life').
The show's basic setup featured Nasubi, chosen from a group of young (male) hopefuls, taken to an anonymous room equipped with little except for a rack of magazines and a telephone, stripped, and obliged to, as the show's title suggested, exist solely on the winnings produced from entering competitions in the mags. Nasubi is told that he will be filmed throughout his ordeal with the results unlikely to be aired; a lie, as the intention of the show was to build up an increasing viewer fanbase by broadcasting carefully edited footage of the contestant's stay in the room and his progress towards his goal of generating 1 million yen's worth of prizes.
This essentially cruel scenario is made worse by the privations in which Nasubi lived. Naked, his privacy covered only by an aubergine emoji (Nasubi's name, after his long face, literally means 'aubergine' and, apparently, was the origin for the social media vegetable/dick thing), the increasingly emaciated man is literally forced to stay alive by entering competitions that, if successful, will deliver food and other comforts. The sight of Nasubi forced to try and eat wet dog food (disgusting) and the dry version (better, but it's all relative) is as painful as his own mental downward spiral, carefully edited to make the guy appear zany rather than, as was the case, troubled and sometimes suicidal.
The person behind the show, producer Toshio Tsuchiya, is one of a number of people interviewed for the documentary, along with Nasubi himself, his mother Kazuko, and Juliet Hindell, a BBC journalist resident in Japan who covered the story; the latter provides the impartial but politely aghast response surely felt by most of those viewing this. Tsuchiya emerges as an unrepentant, confident figure, proud of his groundbreaking TV show. His mother comes across as concerned but helpless; there's little information about whether any interventions were staged to stop the misery - some human rights issues are highlighted - although the producer's wry smile in recollections suggests some very well worded contracts had been signed.
That Nasubi achieved his ¥1,000,000 was a miracle (and there is some - little - humour to be experienced in the bizarre array of those prizes cluttering up his tiny room); but the series picked up a massive following as it unfolded, meaning that Tsuchiya had the incentive to keep it going. Nasubi, expecting release, is transported to Korea to replay the whole game (without knowing a word of Korean, which he had to learn in order to compete) and then back to the studio for an ignominious final reveal.
The post gameshow salvation for Nasubi, his subsequent recuperation of spirit and amazing charity work (to which Tsuchiya financially contributed, apparently), is both a fitting tribute to a man still very much with us, as much as a constant reminder of his resilience. Was Susunu! Denpa Shōnen, as the documentary gently suggests, the making of a rather awkward young man who had potential but had underachieved in life? Possibly, but the cultural and personal cost of the journey cannot be underestimated, despite The Contestant ultimately emerging as a life affirming film.
The Contestant opens in UK cinemas on 29 November.
