Tokyo Sonata (2008) Tôkyô sonata (original title)

Director:

Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writers:

Kiyoshi Kurosawa (screenplay)
Max Mannix (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

27 September 2008 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Every family has its secrets. [USA release]

Plot:

An ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company. |

Plot Keywords:

Patriarch | Japanese Family | Japanese | Teacher | Divorcee

Awards:

10 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Ryûhei Sasaki
Kyôko Koizumi	...	Megumi Sasaki
Yû Koyanagi	...	Takashi Sasaki
Kai Inowaki	...	Kenji Sasaki
Haruka Igawa	...	Kaneko-san
Kanji Tsuda	...	Kurosu
Kazuya Kojima	...	Kobayashi-san
Kôji Yakusho	...	Dorobô
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jason Gray	...	Amerika no ashigaru
Tao Tsuchiya

Directed by
Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa		screenplay
Max Mannix		writer
Sachiko Tanaka		screenplay

Produced by
Wouter Barendrecht	....	producer
Yukie Kito	....	producer (as Yuki'e Kitô)
Yasushi Kotani	....	executive producer
Raymond Phathanavirangoon	....	associate producer
Michael J. Werner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Kazumasa Hashimoto

Cinematography by
Akiko Ashizawa

Film Editing by
Koichi Takahashi

Production Design by
Tomoyuki Maruo
Tomoe Matsumoto

Makeup Department
Rena Grady	....	makeup department head

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daisuke Miyazaki	....	trainee assistant director

Sound Department
Masayuki Iwakura	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Shûji Asano	....	visual effects supervisor

Other crew
Linda Hoaglund	....	subtitler: English

Production Companies

• Django Film
• Entertainment Farm (EF)
• Fortissimo Films
• Hakuhodo DY Media Partners
• PiX

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• ARP Sélection (2008) (France) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2009) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Lusomundo (2008) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Maximum Film Distribution (2009) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Maximum Films (2009) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Palador Pictures (2008) (India) (theatrical)
• PiX (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Regent Releasing (2009) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Sponge (2008) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• United King Films (2008) (Israel) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2008) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• E1 Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Eureka Entertainment (2009) (UK) (all media)
• HBO Hungary (2010) (Hungary) (TV) (Cinemax)
• Koch Vision (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Mega Star Video Distribution (2009) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2010) (Japan) (TV)
• trigon-film (2009) (Switzerland) (DVD) (special edition)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Reeltime Creative  advertising art (Trailers, Posters, Websites)
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  film processing

Also Known As:

"Tôkyô sonata" - Japan (original title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

Japan | Netherlands | Hong Kong

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:13 | USA:PG-13 | South Korea:12 | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIB | UK:12 | Netherlands:12 | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/12

Company:

Django Film

Soundtrack:

Claire de Lune

A hard look at Japan

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.