Always san-chôme no yûhi (2005)

Director:

Takashi Yamazaki

Writers:

Ryôhei Saigan (comic)
Takashi Yamazaki (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 November 2005 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Plot:

Leaving her provincial home, teenage Mutsuko arrives in Tokyo by train to take a job in a major automotive...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Comic | Tokyo

Awards:

29 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Maki Horikita	...	Mutsuko Hoshino
Hidetaka Yoshioka	...	Ryunosuke Chagawa
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi	...	Norifumi Suzuki
Koyuki	...	Hiromi Ishizaki
Hiroko Yakushimaru	...	Tomoe Suzuki
Kazuki Koshimizu	...	Ippei Suzuki
Kenta Suga	...	Junnosuke Furuyuki
Masaya Takahashi	...	Saburo
Kaga Mochimaru	...	Yûichirô
Toru Masuoka	...	The Theatre Manager
Takashi Matsuo	...	The Realtor
Hiroshi Kamido	...	The Postman
Hiroshi Kanbe	...	The Postman
Magy	...	The Butcher
Yôichi Nukumizu	...	The Bicycle Shopkeeper

Also Known As:

Always - Sunset on Third Street (International: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:133 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:All

Filming Locations:

Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan

Company:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment

Trivia:

The "Chagawa Ryunosuke" character is named after real-life author Akutagawa Ryunosuke. The Kanji characters of both names are nearly identical.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Just before opening title, Ippei spins the propeller of his toy plane clockwise. When he releases the plane, the propeller is spinning clockwise. The propeller was powered by an elastic band - releasing it would cause the propeller to spin counter-clockwise. The error was noticed in post production but couldn't be fixed without re-shooting the entire continuous one-shot or re-doing the CGI. They decided to leave it in hoping no one would notice (though they revealed the goof in the director's commentary).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Alldays: Ni-chôme no asahi (2008)

Wonderful film

I had the chance to see this film because a friend brought the DVD back from Japan. Otherwise I don't think I would ever have had the opportunity to watch it.

The cover of the DVD says "Over 270 million people have cried" over this film. I don't doubt that for a moment. This movie is funny, serious, sweet, suspenseful, hilarious and totally satisfying.

The special effects are beautifully rendered and reminded me of what Steven Spielberg might have done if he were making this film. The setting of Tokyo in 1958 is seamlessly recreated, as characters in this film are placed into footage of a 1950's Japanese film.

I would love to know how they did this, and I'm going to research it. As soon as I find out I'll update this post.

Everything about this film is romantic. Don't miss it.