The Rickshaw Man (1958)
"Muhomatsu no issho" (original title)

A poor rickshaw driver finds himself taking care of a young woman and her son after the woman's husband dies suddenly.

Director:

Hiroshi Inagaki

Writers:

Hiroshi Inagaki, Mansaku Itami,

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Hideko Takamine, Hiroshi Akutagawa

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Toshirô Mifune	...	Matsugoro
Hideko Takamine	...	Yoshiko Yoshioka
Hiroshi Akutagawa	...	Capt. Kotaro Yoshioka
Chishû Ryû	...	Shigezo Yuki
Chôko Iida	...	Otora (innkeeper)
Haruo Tanaka	...	Kumakichi
Jun Tatara	...	Theatre employee
Kenji Kasahara	...	Toshio Yoshioka
Kaoru Matsumoto	...	Young Toshio
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Yoshiko's brother
Ichirô Arishima	...	Medicine peddler
Chieko Nakakita	...	Yoshiko's sister-in-law
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Fencing master
Bokuzen Hidari
Kokuten Kôdô

Storyline

Matsugoro is a poor rickshaw driver whose animated spirit and optimistic demeanor make him a favorite of the town. Matsu helps an injured boy, Toshio, and is hired by the boy's parents, Kotaro and Yoshioko, to transport the boy to and from doctor appointments. Matsu comes to love the boy and his parents. When Toshio's father dies, Matsu becomes a surrogate father, helping to raise the boy and secretly falling in love with Toshio's mother Yoshioko. But Matsu knows there is a great gulf between their classes and there seems no hope that Matsu can ever be more than the rickshaw man to the mother and son.

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Plot Keywords:

forbidden love | remake by original director | remake

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

3 May 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Rickshaw Man

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remake of The Life of Matsu the Untamed (1943)

User Reviews

Matsu the Great

The story of a great man indeed. A man who, despite his poverty and unjustifiable way of life, finds happiness and appreciates the simple and basic things in it, and the people who make contact with him quickly recognize his great character and kindness. Toshiro Mifune may have just delivered one of his best performances in his whole acting career, so different from his usual expressions he would normally showcase in Kurosawa's films. In this film, while in some parts he impersonates a similar role to those he would do in Kurosawa's films, he mostly adopts a personality of a humble, charitable man. He is definitely the core and character that makes this film overflow with greatness, although many of the other people involved in the cast are just as important.

The fact that this film is very rare and difficult to track, in my opinion, is comparable to the unfortunate life of Matsu (character enacted by Toshiro Mifune) who, being a wonderful man, goes through life mainly unnoticed and unacknowledged; only some people get to know him better and firmly state that he could have been someone big. Such is the fate of this film; it is highly underrated, but if you are fortunate enough to find it, you will behold the story of an admirable man.