Tokyo Sonata (2008)

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

Director:

Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writers:

Kiyoshi Kurosawa (screenplay), Max Mannix

Stars:

Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyôko Koizumi, Yû Koyanagi

10 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Ryûhei Sasaki
Kyôko Koizumi	...	Megumi Sasaki
Yû Koyanagi	...	Takashi Sasaki
Kai Inowaki	...	Kenji Sasaki
Haruka Igawa	...	Kaneko-san The Piano Teacher
Kanji Tsuda	...	Kurosu
Kazuya Kojima	...	Kobayashi-san
Kôji Yakusho	...	Dorobô The Robber
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Faisal Ahmed	...	Train Conductor
Denden	...	Janitor
Jason Gray	...	Amerika no ashigaru
Hajime Inoue
Masayuki Ito
Kenji Kawahara
Toshiyuki Kitami

Storyline

The wind of change is blowing as a family grapples with unemployment, alienation, mistrust and a lack of communication. When a Japanese salaryman loses his job to outsourcing to China, it is just the beginning of a series of family shattering incidents leading to the implosion of the family unit.

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Plot Keywords:

chinawoman | jarhead | military industrial complex | occupation | american occupation of japan | 

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Taglines:

Every family has its secrets. [USA release]

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language

Did You Know?

Trivia

In some outdoor scenes where Ryuhei is loitering with other unemployed people you can see Tokyo Monorail in the background.

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Connections

References L'Argent (1983)

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Soundtracks

Claire de Lune
Composed by Claude Debussy

User Reviews

I highly recommend this film.

At first I thought this film would be a depressing story to watch, but I was surprised that the film was actually very uplifting. Although it's a sad story overall, it has a very powerful message if you watch it to the end, a message that will encourage you to move on even when life gets to its darkest moment.

This story is about problems of people in Tokyo, all sorts of problems. The leader of the family lose their job and was afraid to tell his family, the elder son join American army and go to war, the younger son wants to learn the piano but the father forbids him, the wife is depressed of trying to hold the family together. The film is so delicate and beautiful. It captures the feeling of each character and the whole depressive atmosphere of Tokyo very well. The pace is slow but it's not boring because you can follow the story very easily and you can sympathize with each one of the characters. It doesn't even have any Hollywood boring formula of sentimental film. This is a real work of art.

I'm not gonna spoil this movie. I just want to tell you to go watch this film and watch it to the end although you feel that it's getting darker and darker. For me, this is not another good movie. This is a "great" movie because after I watch it, I feel that now I can go on with my life.

Details

Country:

Japan Netherlands Hong Kong

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

27 September 2008 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Tokyo Sonata

Filming Locations:

Ebisu, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,345, 15 March 2009

Gross USA:

$278,356

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$943,547

Company Credits

Production Co:

Django Film, Entertainment Farm (EF), Fortissimo Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1