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The discussion going on in the Shinjuku Swan thread got me thinking about great Japanese films.
What are some of your favorites and why?
One evening, long ago, just after I married in 2002, I was channel surfing on my TV cable provider, JCom, looking for English programs. My wife was out and I was bored.
I stumbled upon a movie in Japanese, of which I understood just a few words, back then, hardly much more, even now.
Yet, I seemed to understand what was going on, without subtitles.
When my wife got home, I started describing the film. She laughed, and recognized it immediately.
It turns out that it was a series of 48 films, spanning from 1968 to 1995 called Otoko Wa Tsurai Yo -It’s Tough Being a Man and NHK was showing the entire collection, something that happens every now and then.
We watched the remainder of the series and I was hooked. Later, I bought all 48, with English subtitles.
For those of you not familiar, here are a few links, describing the Tora-san series:
All the Tora-san films had broadly the same plot. In each, the hero meets, falls for and loses the girl. Individual entries were distinguished mainly by the casting of the heroines, known collectively as Tora-san’s “Madonnas.” Likewise, each film depicted the hero’s awkward interaction with his family.
But it is too simplistic to say that the series was formulaic, since the formula itself was the pleasure. From Tora-san’s unchanging opening narration and the whimsical theme tune, to the film-parody pre-credit dream sequences with which later episodes began, the viewer had the sense of returning to a familiar world, and reacquainting himself with characters that he had come to know intimately over the years. The regular twice-yearly installments, released to coincide with Bon summer holidays and New Year festivities, began to feel like visits from beloved relatives.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2008/11/14/films/114980/#.V5U-lBV94uo
Tora-san arrived on the screen when anything was possible if you worked hard enough, and people were forward-thinking and full of energy… A penniless, comic anti-hero, Tora-san lacked good looks and smarts and remained oblivious to the country’s modernization, living solely to bring happiness to those he loved.
- Yoji Yamada, Director
https://www.japansociety.org/content.cfm/best_of_tora-san
Otoko wa Tsurai yo(男はつらいよ?, "It's tough being a man") is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as "Tora-san" (寅さん?), a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans.[1] Spanning 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995,[2] all of the Otoko wa tsurai yo films except episodes 3 (Azuma Morisaki) and 4 (Shun'ichi Kobayashi) were directed by Yōji Yamada, who also wrote (or co-wrote) all the screenplays.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoko_wa_Tsurai_yo
What are some of your favorites and why?
One evening, long ago, just after I married in 2002, I was channel surfing on my TV cable provider, JCom, looking for English programs. My wife was out and I was bored.
I stumbled upon a movie in Japanese, of which I understood just a few words, back then, hardly much more, even now.
Yet, I seemed to understand what was going on, without subtitles.
When my wife got home, I started describing the film. She laughed, and recognized it immediately.
It turns out that it was a series of 48 films, spanning from 1968 to 1995 called Otoko Wa Tsurai Yo -It’s Tough Being a Man and NHK was showing the entire collection, something that happens every now and then.
We watched the remainder of the series and I was hooked. Later, I bought all 48, with English subtitles.
For those of you not familiar, here are a few links, describing the Tora-san series:
All the Tora-san films had broadly the same plot. In each, the hero meets, falls for and loses the girl. Individual entries were distinguished mainly by the casting of the heroines, known collectively as Tora-san’s “Madonnas.” Likewise, each film depicted the hero’s awkward interaction with his family.
But it is too simplistic to say that the series was formulaic, since the formula itself was the pleasure. From Tora-san’s unchanging opening narration and the whimsical theme tune, to the film-parody pre-credit dream sequences with which later episodes began, the viewer had the sense of returning to a familiar world, and reacquainting himself with characters that he had come to know intimately over the years. The regular twice-yearly installments, released to coincide with Bon summer holidays and New Year festivities, began to feel like visits from beloved relatives.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2008/11/14/films/114980/#.V5U-lBV94uo
Tora-san arrived on the screen when anything was possible if you worked hard enough, and people were forward-thinking and full of energy… A penniless, comic anti-hero, Tora-san lacked good looks and smarts and remained oblivious to the country’s modernization, living solely to bring happiness to those he loved.
- Yoji Yamada, Director
https://www.japansociety.org/content.cfm/best_of_tora-san
Otoko wa Tsurai yo(男はつらいよ?, "It's tough being a man") is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as "Tora-san" (寅さん?), a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans.[1] Spanning 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995,[2] all of the Otoko wa tsurai yo films except episodes 3 (Azuma Morisaki) and 4 (Shun'ichi Kobayashi) were directed by Yōji Yamada, who also wrote (or co-wrote) all the screenplays.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoko_wa_Tsurai_yo
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