Memorable, crazy movie

A Masterpiece!

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa, well-known for his J-horrors (none of which I have seen), directed this both serious and funny study of relations between old and young, male and female, East and West, counterbalancing the somewhat formulaic, spoon-feeding script with visually as well as acoustically pleasing presentation - quiet, mellifluous, with allusions to Ozu ... Yet in its second third the movie takes a sudden action twist and changes its pace and character : from now on, we are dwelling in the realm of a parable where everyone has to learn his/her lesson, and the clichéd ending tells us that ... um ... it's good to have at least one prodigy in the family ...? Bonus Q+A left me wondering how a publisher of Eureka's stature could come up with such heap of platitudes which one is used to expect from actors but not from the director.

In a cloak of a traditional Japanese family, "Tokyo Sonata" slowly and whimsically reveals an undercurrent of conflict, secrecy, and turmoil in Sasaki normality. The opening scene hints at most of what will come. A storm outside intrudes on an outwardly well functioning home (with everyone aptly playing their role of mother, father, or son). But after the mother rushes to shut the window and cleans the rain off the floor, she oddly re-opens the window to let the storm back in. The camera is at her back since it's too early to give away her mixed feelings, but it's just the sort of quizzical scene that becomes the basis of the story's natural development.Minor acts of rebellion boil over after the father, Ryûhei Sasaki (Teruyuki Kagawa), gets downsized (or fired) from his cushy administrative job at a medical supply company. Other acts of minor rebellion break out in unison to form a musical whole. His son, Kenji (Kai Inowaki), publicly humiliates his 5th grade teacher for reading an adult manga (or graphic pornography) on the train, and the other students turn the class into anarchy. Then both sons rebel against their father's wishes: Kenji takes piano lessons on his monthly lunch money and Takashi (Yû Koyanagi) runs around at night spreading propaganda, or attempting to do so.The father becomes a bit of a maverick as well. After being fired, he dresses fully in a suit and pretends to go to work as a show for his wife and kids. He spends the day by roaming between public benches, libraries, free meal lines, and unemployment lines. He comes home a bit early his first day of freedom, and comically runs into his his youngest son, Kenji (Kai Inowaki), who is returning from school. Both of them march alongside one another like distraught school children. She knows instantly that something is wrong and later catches him eating a free meal. But she says nothing to protect his authority as the father.The wife, Megumi (Kyôko Koizumi), keeps the home running like clockwork. She plays the role of full time mother: cooking meals, vacuuming the house, and raising the kids. The kids occasionally ask parental permission to follow their dreams, only to be shot down by their father. But Megumi stands by them and is apt to secretly support Kenji's desire to play the piano and Takashi's decision to join the Army. She admits that her motherly role is an act, but she also realizes how difficult it is to live outside your culture or to begin anew in a completely different direction.Before the father was fired, his boss complimented him for a job well done. But then (as if he knew nothing about his loyal employee) he asked whether Ryûhei had any special skills. Ryûhei seems comically silent to such questions, but he's also feisty. He goes to employment agencies like his picky self: looking disgusted at the thought of physical labor jobs, refusing lower level manager jobs (big mistake), and accepting a job as a janitor in resignation (see).Why does Ryûhei dislike explaining his special skills during interviews? Does he feel an underlying intrusiveness and fakeness in the question? Is it sort like an Orwellian quiz to say 2+2=5, or else you can't get this job? Is he mostly being obstinate, or is he refusing to play their game? Is he being exposed as under qualified for any specialized job, or is he discovering a rebellious side that remained dormant during his years as an administrator? Ryûhei seems angry over being questioned like a robot. Later he finds his niche as a janitor since it doesn't require him to sell his soul to pass an intrusive interview.On the surface they seem like a family dealing with the struggles of life, but the director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to Akira Kurosawa), creates an atmosphere of turmoil to see where the characters end up. He drags the father through the streets, and has the wife comically drive around in a modern car she was eying. Both reappear on the other side of the strange plot twists changed. It's difficult to say exactly what they go through without spoiling the psychological feeling of their change in awareness. But lets just say it threatens to turn them into quirky old folk who do things differently.They mostly become aware of the absurdity of taking their former roles seriously, such as pretending to esteem the authority of the father role. But the film doesn't throw dad overboard. It doesn't reject tradition itself, just a serious attitude and rigorous adherence to it. The epitome of this tension is the son's decision to join the US Army, an act of rebellion and freedom against his father and Japan's isolationism while also an act of supreme commitment to tradition. The US Army is the quintessence of tradition, discipline, and self-sacrifice, almost as much as a traditional Japanese family (where if you don't run fast enough from your father or teacher, you will likely get a taste of corporal punishment when you are disobedient).The mother notes how difficult it is to begin anew once your life has taken a certain path. Her point is that while we play the social games that culture and chance created for us long ago, we don't have to become true believers and supporters of such games. We shouldn't propagate them for all time and breath them into other people's faces like a plague. But we also can't escape from our causal past either. It's kind of like being a ghost staring at one's own part in a play and having very little power to do anything about the basic rules. Within the bounds of being where you are, you can re-imagine your situation in novel ways, pretend to be free, and become aware of the game itself, but you can't truly be free of it.

Tokyo Sonata tells the story of a changing Japanese economy, social culture and employment culture and it effects on family. Here it is excellently told by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (surprisingly no relation to the great Akira Kurosawa).Ryûhei Sasaki (Teruyuki Kagawa) is a 46-year-old career man living in an industrial area of Tokyo with his family. Early on he looses his job when his department is out sourced to China, and he tries to hire the fact from his wife and children. Ryûhei tries to act normal whilst he spends his day at an employment agency, and waiting in the park with other unemployed people for free food. He meets a former schoolfriend, Kurosu (Kanji Tsuda), who also lost his job and hides the fact from his family. Kurosu gives Ryûhei tips on how to keep the charade, but the stress becomes too great on both men. Ryûhei slowly becomes more bitter and authoritarian at home. Ryûhei's family also suffer their own problems. His youngest son Kenji (Inowaki Kai) has problems in school, coming into conflict with one of his teachers, but he discovers his love and talent for the piano. He secretly takes lessons and his teacher wants him to audition for a music school, but this goes again his father's wishes in a Billy Elliot type sub-plot. Ryûhei older son Takashi (Yû Koyanagi) is more distance from his father, do small jobs, but he plans joining the American military. But again, Ryûhei forbids it, despite Takashi being old enough to make his own decision.Kiyoshi Kurosawa tells a low-key, but compelling story. He often uses wide shot, giving the audience the feeling like a bystander in these people's lives. Using wide shot forces allows the actors to put real power in their performances with long continuous shots and does not allow the audience to get distracted by continuous editing. Kurosawa is able keep the film going with a fast pace and compelling despite it's low key subject matter. Kurosawa also casted some superb actors who are all wondering in their performances in this film. This is also a film telling some interesting aspects of Japanese culture. The Japanese economy is changing: the notion that someone could have a job for life is disappearing, and that the Japanese economy is suffering the same issues as Anglo-Saxon style economies. The film also acts as a commentary about the Japanese family, where it is portrayed in an old-fashion way, the man runs the house and controls the money, but this system is changing, with the whole family rebelling, and with other Japanese people having a more enlightened view. The third theme is also shown through Takashi about a changing view of America in Japan. The Japanese have in the past had a hostile view to the American military presence in Japan, with incidents like the 1995 Okinawan rape incident, but a younger generation haven't had to suffer this, and the Japanese view of military action is also changing. This film will give you a lot to think about.Despite these good plots this film is far from perfect. By the end of the second and the beginning of the third act the plot starts to fall apart with some unrealistic events, which ruins the film overall. However Tokyo Sonata is a worthy film, showing that Japanese cinema is one of the best in the world. It also shows that Japanese cinema is more then just anime and violence manga adaptions like Battle Royale, which is also very very good.

For a foreigner like me, Japan is a mystery, both wonderful, weird and hard to understand, especially since most of my information about the country is anecdotal or (worse?) coming from mangas. I've met people having the greatest respect for Japanese customs and people who completely badmouth the country.From this perspective, Tokyo Sonata is a bit of a gem, showing me how ordinary Japanese people live and think. There is the family, standard issue of father, mother and two children, and there are the roles: head of the family, respectful housewife, rebellious teenager and confused child. What do they do when the economic crisis and the traditional value system clash?I thought the actors were good, the soundtrack as well (to be expected given the title), and the plot was slow but crisp. There must have been a lot of expectations on a guy directing movies when his last name is Kurosawa and not related to Akira, because the movie was overall an excellent film. However, given its two hour length and slow pace, I advice you look at it when in the mood for cinematography, not some easy entertainment. Also, it is a pretty sad drama in places, so be ready to empathize with some hard hit people.