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:

First Part | Hyphen In Title | Tokyo Japan | Punctuation In Title | Based On Comic

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 | Australia:PG

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)

Soundtrack:

ALWAYS

Worth Every Accolade

This film has won so many awards and it deserves every single one of them. Set in Tokyo in 1958 at the time of the construction of the Tokyo Tower, the story depicts a few families in that neighborhood and the things they go through. It has both comic turns and, once in a while, sad references. It is also overtly sentimental at times, but the emotional power of the film never wanes, and it is just a feel great film. The acting is excellent. There are real glimpses into the meaning of family, love and caring, and just generally sharing your time together. If you think you are going to watch this film and promise yourself you will not be sucked in by its sentiment, you are missing the point. Its supposed to make you laugh and cry. Although Tokyo has demonstrably changed since 1958 (I went there in May 2008, you wouldn't be able to find traces of this existence), this is a period film which just works wonderfully. It was so successful, a sequel was done. I'm going to watch that, since, based on this film alone, I want to see what happens to these characters from here. That is how great the film is, that one film alone is not good enough to let these characters go. Simply a triumph that deserves all the success it has achieved.