Tora-san's Dear Old Home

Tora-san's Dear Old Home

Theatrical poster
Directed by Yoji Yamada
Written by Yoji Yamada
Yoshitaka Asama
Starring Kiyoshi Atsumi
Sayuri Yoshinaga
Music by Naozumi Yamamoto
Cinematography Tetsuo Takaba
Edited by Iwao Ishii
Distributed by Shochiku
Release dates
  • August 5, 1972
Running time
 108 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Tora-san's Dear Old Home (男はつらいよ 柴又慕情 Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Shibamata Bojō) aka Tora-san's New Romance[1] is a 1972 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Sayuri Yoshinaga as his love interest or "Madonna".[2] Tora-san's Dear Old Home is the ninth entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series, and the first to employ an opening dream-sequence, which became a standard feature of the series.[3] It is also the first film in the series in which Tatsuo Matsumura plays Tora-san's uncle, a role he took over from Shin Morikawa who died after the eighth film.[4]

Synopsis

Tora-san meets three women on vacation when he travels to Fukui. One of the women meets him at his home, and he believes she has fallen in love with him, unaware that she hopes to marry a potter in the countryside.[4][5]

Cast

Critical appraisal

Stuart Galbraith IV writes that Tora-san's Dear Old Home is a "typically fine early entry in the series' run", which shows Yamada and Atsumi still experimenting with the Tora-san character and stories. Galbraith singles out Yamada's portrayal of "fleeting friendships" in this film, pointing out, "Yamada's camera lingers on little details, especially the sadness of departing trains and the pain of saying goodbye." He points out that the film is also very funny, with Chishū Ryū performing an especially humorous scene as the Buddhist priest.[4] The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san's Dear Old Home four out of five stars.[3]

Availability

Tora-san's Dear Old Home was released theatrically on August 5, 1972.[7] In Japan, the film has been released on videotape in 1995, and in DVD format in 2008.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "OTOKO WA TSURAIYO -SHIBAMATA BOJO". Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  2. ↑ "男はつらいよ 柴又慕情 (Madonna)" (in Japanese). www.tora-san.jp. Retrieved 2010-01-18. (official site)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Tora-San's Dear Old Home" (in German). www.molodezhnaja.ch. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Galbraith IV, Stuart (2005-01-09). "Tora-san 09: Tora-san's Dear Old Home (Region 3)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  5. ↑ 男はつらいよ 柴又慕情 (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  6. ↑ 男はつらいよ 柴又慕情 (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  7. ↑ "男はつらいよ 柴又慕情". Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  8. ↑ 男はつらいよ　柴又慕情(1972) (in Japanese). www.allcinema.net. Retrieved 2010-01-18.

Bibliography

English

German

Japanese

External links