Madadayo (1993)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa (writer)
Hyakken Uchida (essays)
(more)

Release Date:

20 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The final film by Japan's master filmmaker.

Plot:

This film tells the story of professor Uehida Hyakken-sama (1889-1971), in Gotemba, around the forties...

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Birthday | Beer | Japan | Air Raid

Awards:

6 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Tatsuo Matsumura	...	Professor Hyakken Uchida
Kyôko Kagawa	...	Professor's Wife
Hisashi Igawa	...	Takayama
Jôji Tokoro	...	Amaki
Masayuki Yui	...	Kiriyama
Akira Terao	...	Sawamura
Takeshi Kusaka	...	Dr. Kobayashi
Asei Kobayashi	...	Rev. Kameyama
Hidetaka Yoshioka	...	Takayama's son
Yoshitaka Zushi	...	Neighbor
Mitsuru Hirata	...	Tada
Nobuto Okamoto	...	Ohta
Tetsu Watanabe
Norio Matsui
Murohide Sugizaki
Ken Takemura
Hiroyoshi Takenouchi
Motohiro Shimaki
Masaaki Sasaki
Nobuyoshi Masuda
Masayoshi Nagasawa
Shu Nakahan
Yoshimitsu Shindo
Ryujiro Shin
Tatsuya Ito
Naoto Shigemizu
Masuo Amada
Minoru Hirano
Kôzô Nomura
Kazuhiko Sasai
Toshi Sasaki
Norimasa Nattori
Fumihiko Tsuburaya
Hiroshi Nagatsubaki
Tatsuya Sakaguchi
Yoshio Nakahira
Senzaburô Makimura		(as Sensaburo Makimura)
Yasuji Mita
Katsumi Chô
Norinobu Kodama
Yomaru Yokichi
Mikuni Toyama
Sumimaro Yochimi		(as Sumimaru Yoshimi)
Junichi Tsubota
Makoto Dainenji
Eiji Bando
Kojiro Hayasaka
Mashahiko Tanimura		(as Masahiko Tanimura)
Toshihiko Nakano
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kimihiro Reizei	...	Murayama
Kinzoh Sakura	...	Police
Takao Zushi	...	Kitamura

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ishirô Honda		uncredited
Akira Kurosawa		writer
Hyakken Uchida		essays

Produced by
Seikichi Iizumi	....	associate producer
Yuzo Irie	....	executive producer
Gohei Kogure	....	producer
Hisao Kurosawa	....	producer
Yasuyoshi Tokuma	....	producer
Hiroshi Yamamoto	....	producer
Yo Yamamoto	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Shinichirô Ikebe

Cinematography by
Takao Saitô
Masaharu Ueda

Film Editing by
Akira Kurosawa
Ishirô Honda		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Yoshirô Muraki

Costume Design by
Kazuko Kurosawa

Production Management
Teruyo Nogami	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ishirô Honda	....	assistant director
Takashi Koizumi	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Hideo Nishizaki	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Takeji Sano	....	lighting technician

Other crew
Ishirô Honda	....	directorial advisor
Izuhiko Suehiro	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• DENTSU Music And Entertainment
• Kurosawa Production Co.
• Tokuma Shoten

Distributors

• Toho Company (1993) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Genius Products (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Jesnet (2009) (Japan) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Miriam Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Sandrews (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Sveriges Television (SVT) (1993) (Sweden) (TV)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (video)
• Weinstein Company, The (2007) (USA) (all media)
• WinStar Cinema (2000) (USA) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages
• Tokuma Shoten  cooperation company

Also Known As:

Not Yet

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:7 | Singapore:PG | West Germany:6 (bw)

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment

Trivia:

The surreal cloudy background that appears in the final dream sequence (as well as the video cover) was painted by director Akira Kurosawa himself.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The story depicts Professor Hyakken's 60th birthday toward the end of World War II (1943-1945). But he was born in 1889; thus, he turned 60 years old in 1949.

Soundtrack:

L'ESTRO ARMONICO Op. II, Concert No 1 in D Major, RV 230

viewers awarded... in the end

Madadayo chronicles the life of a retired professor who lives vicariously through all the students he has taught. The students admire him greatly, he is visited often and many stay to listen to his whimsy and foolish stories. The professor is a child at heart, and not much really happens. The film doesn't have a plot really, and only 2 things start to focus around the story one being the loss of the professors house after the allied bombing, and the loss of a stray cat he adopts years later.

To the viewer though there is much in between stories and people to digest such as a great celebratory dinner that is held every year, and so on. To some degree I will admit I liked the camradare that I witnessed, the great dialogue, the professors childish personality, but I wanted the film to move forward and to at least give me something to focus on.

The lost cat scene was a good distraction but it did go a little more longer than neccesary. I find this often sometimes in Kurosawa's work (The lost gun in Stray Dogs, following the suspect in High and Low reminded me of this). However, the hallmarks of his great filmmaking are apparent in the dinner scenes, cinematography, and conversations. He also provides scenes that the viewer could take as obligatory (such as a death, or the possible return of the cat), but Kurosawa changes this so the outcome is not what you expect but refreshing.

However, the best is saved for last... litteraly. As I was waiting for the film to end, the hallmark of greatness arrives without question in the span of what must have been only 5 minutes. The ending just wraps up everything so perfectly, and it made me from just liking the film to instantly loving it. It gives a real insight into the professors mind who is greatly admired and respected.

Rating 8 out of 10