Tokyo Sonata

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Dušan A Beautiful camera and a well-written story, just not speaking so much to me Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/18/24 Full Review JJJJJJ J Slow moving, methodical, beautiful, thoughtful movie. I first have to start by saying it took me 3 attempts to watch this. It is a slow moving movie and if you aren't up for that you will not enjoy it. That being said if you are this movie is quite deep and has something to say. It is both a critique of Japanese society at the time but also maybe also has a more deeper message about happiness, life, and what it means to be human. This movie is definitely not for everyone but I great movie for those interested in it. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/19/23 Full Review William D The movie began well, focusing on a man's struggle with unexpected unemployment and his desire to keep it secret from his family. Eventually, the characters' stories went off in some weird and rather implausible directions and I lost interest. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review isla s This is a somewhat clever film about members of the same family who have their own secrets to hide - not wanting to tell relatives what their doing for fear of judgement. It provides an insight into male shame and dignity perhaps...male peer pressue in Japanese culture. Its a pretty low key film, with some thought provoking dialogue. Its not exactly a gripping watch but I liked the way the plot progressed. If you can stick with it, its worth seeing, though it's not exactly an entirely impactful film, it is thought provoking and it's still worth seeing. Quirky, mundane, interesting. Not great but definitely not bad. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The financial crisis of 2008 rocked the world — sometimes we forget this. In Japan, losing one's job is particularly devastating as there exists a stigma and cultural sense of shame that accompanies the horrific news. Tokyo Sonata follows the Sasakis, a middle-class family whose home bumps up against train-tracks. Ryūhei (Teruyuki Kagawa) is the family's patriarch who loses his job in "administration" in the opening scene. You feel for him, but soon learn that the entire system for which he profited is flawed as he cannot even state his skills to prospective employers — the benign question, "What are your skills?" completely befuddles the man. Ryūhei's storyline is the most compelling — he runs into a childhood friend who has also lost his job (Kanji Tsuda), but pretends to go to work every day, setting his phone to call him every 20 minutes so he can appear busy — but we also follow the three other members of the family, none of whom have the most interesting threads. Megumi (Kyoko Koizumi), Ryūhei's wife, seeks purpose as a homemaker and struggles with how to handle her husband's firing, that is, when it eventually comes to light. Kenji (Kai Inowaki) becoming a piano prodigy seemed to come out of nowhere and Takashi's (Yu Yoanagi) storyline probably could've been cut altogether — foreign nationals who are not residents of the U.S. can join the military and fight in our wars?? Ryūhei lashes out ostensibly as the family's patriarch, but really because it's the only thing he has control over anymore. To end the film, the parents come to accept their cold reality and embrace in the light that is their piano prodigy son. Tokyo Sonata is a movie about purpose, which can be both a blessing and a curse. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review nefasto r The story of this family is touching and sometimes comical, and the slightly hallucinatory touches work on some internal level, still I think there is a lack of focus regarding the story in general and the ending in particular that makes me dubious. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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