Copyright Regent ReleasingDirected by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Japan/Hong Kong/The Netherlands, 2008, 119 mins
In Japanese with English subtitles
Last night, I had the pleasure of attending a special preview at Japan Society of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's latest film, which is set to open theatrically in the U.S. this Friday, March 13th, 2009. The auditorium, which has nicely raked and very comfortable seating, was at near capacity, and many in the audience broke into vigorous, heartfelt, and well-deserved, applause at film's end.
Unlike the tales of horror and the supernatural that director Kurosawa is most well known for (such as Cure from 1997 and 2001's Pulse/Kairo), Tokyo Sonatata is a family drama, that coincidentally has great resonance in the harsh realities of America's current economic doldrums.
The Sasaki family is headed by Ryuhei, an administrative salaryman who is downsized out of his job and who hides this development from his wife and two sons. Instead he searches for a new job, only to find out that the only ones available are far below his former postition, and hanging out with other unemployed former bread-winners.
Unlike the tales of horror and the supernatural that director Kurosawa is most well known for (such as Cure from 1997 and 2001's Pulse/Kairo), Tokyo Sonatata is a family drama, that coincidentally has great resonance in the harsh realities of America's current economic doldrums.
The Sasaki family is headed by Ryuhei, an administrative salaryman who is downsized out of his job and who hides this development from his wife and two sons. Instead he searches for a new job, only to find out that the only ones available are far below his former postition, and hanging out with other unemployed former bread-winners.
Teruyuki Kagawa, who was recently seen as the sheriff in Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django and in Yasuo Furuhata's The Haunted Samurai/Tsukigami, both from 2007, is perfectly cast as this Japanese everyman who can't quite come to grips with his new lot in life. Largely as a result of his response to the stress of this development, the entire family structure is sent spinning out of control.
His wife Megumi is beautifully portrayed by Kyoko Koizumi. Since 1983 she's been in 35 films according to IMDb, but I didn't recognize any of those listed there. Her finely nuanced performance here is a marvel to behold. She won both the 2008 Hochi Film Award and the 2009 Kinema Junpo Film Award for best actress for her work in Tokyo Sonata and in Gou-Gou datte neko de aru.
Yu Koyanagi has a relatively small role as Takashi, the older brother. A slacker who is described by his father as "a mess," Takashi leaves the family to join the U.S. military to serve in the Middle East.
The pivotal role of Kenji, the younger brother, is superbly handled by Inowaki Kai. An independent spirit, Kenji starts taking piano lessons from a lovely young female teacher. This is where the musical connection with the film's title is made. Kai won the 2009 Kinema Junpo Award for Best New Actor in this, his first film!
The film runs a broad gamut of emotions, from darkly humorous to achingly poignant. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just conclude my comments by saying that I thought the film ended perfectly. At a certain point when the film was clearly going to end before long, I had an incredibly strong feeling that it should conclude in a certain way. The actual ending was very close to what I'd envisioned, only it was actually a bit better. Kurosawa's vision, not surprisingly, was superior to my own.
I give the film an ACF rating of 4 out of 4 stars - outstanding, not-to-be-missed.
Tokyo Sonata won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of last year's Cannes Film Festival.
In New York the film will open at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Broadway between West 62nd and 63rd Streets (212.757.2280) and at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue, at West Third Street (212.924.7771).
In San Francisco, Tokyo Sonata will be showing at the 27th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (scroll down this link page, then click on the Tokyo Sonata link there for the pop-up window) on Friday, March 13th, 2009 at 6:45 PM at the Sundance Kabuki 3 and on Saturday, March 14th at 6:00 PM at Pacific Film Archive
There's lots of info to be had at the Tokyo Sonata website, including a full Release Schedule.
His wife Megumi is beautifully portrayed by Kyoko Koizumi. Since 1983 she's been in 35 films according to IMDb, but I didn't recognize any of those listed there. Her finely nuanced performance here is a marvel to behold. She won both the 2008 Hochi Film Award and the 2009 Kinema Junpo Film Award for best actress for her work in Tokyo Sonata and in Gou-Gou datte neko de aru.
Yu Koyanagi has a relatively small role as Takashi, the older brother. A slacker who is described by his father as "a mess," Takashi leaves the family to join the U.S. military to serve in the Middle East.
The pivotal role of Kenji, the younger brother, is superbly handled by Inowaki Kai. An independent spirit, Kenji starts taking piano lessons from a lovely young female teacher. This is where the musical connection with the film's title is made. Kai won the 2009 Kinema Junpo Award for Best New Actor in this, his first film!
The film runs a broad gamut of emotions, from darkly humorous to achingly poignant. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just conclude my comments by saying that I thought the film ended perfectly. At a certain point when the film was clearly going to end before long, I had an incredibly strong feeling that it should conclude in a certain way. The actual ending was very close to what I'd envisioned, only it was actually a bit better. Kurosawa's vision, not surprisingly, was superior to my own.
I give the film an ACF rating of 4 out of 4 stars - outstanding, not-to-be-missed.
Tokyo Sonata won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of last year's Cannes Film Festival.
In New York the film will open at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Broadway between West 62nd and 63rd Streets (212.757.2280) and at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue, at West Third Street (212.924.7771).
In San Francisco, Tokyo Sonata will be showing at the 27th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (scroll down this link page, then click on the Tokyo Sonata link there for the pop-up window) on Friday, March 13th, 2009 at 6:45 PM at the Sundance Kabuki 3 and on Saturday, March 14th at 6:00 PM at Pacific Film Archive
There's lots of info to be had at the Tokyo Sonata website, including a full Release Schedule.
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