aka Torasan's Homeward Journey, Am I Trying? Part II, and Torasan Pt. 2 is a 1969

1969 in film

The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...

 Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada

Yoji Yamada

is a Japanese film director best known for his Otoko wa Tsurai yo series of films and his Samurai Trilogy ....

. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi

Kiyoshi Atsumi

Kiyoshi Atsumi , born Yasuo Tadokoro , was a Japanese film actor....

 as Kuruma Torajirō (Tora-san), and Orie Satō as his love interest or "Madonna". Tora-San's Cherished Mother is the second entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo

Otoko wa Tsurai yo

Otoko wa tsurai yo is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as "Tora-san" , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans...

series.

Synopsis

Tora-san hears that his mother is still alive and returns to Tokyo to track her down. He discovers that she is a geisha who had had only a brief affair with his father. While visiting the family, he falls in love with Natsuko, the daughter of an old teacher.

Cast

• Kiyoshi Atsumi
  Kiyoshi Atsumi
  Kiyoshi Atsumi , born Yasuo Tadokoro , was a Japanese film actor....
  
   as Torajiro
• Chieko Baishō
  Chieko Baisho
  is a Japanese actress and singer.In Japan, she is well known for her performance as Sakura in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series . In addition, she has acted in most films directed by Yōji Yamada since the 1960s...
  
   as Sakura
• Chōchō Miyako as Okiku
• Orie Satō as Natsuko Tsubouchi
• Tsutomu Yamazaki as Kaoru Fujimura
• Chieko Misaki as Torajiro's aunt
• Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
• Taisaku Akino as Noboru Kawamata
• Akiko Kazami as Osumi
• Hisao Dazai as Umetarō Katsura (Print Shop)

Critical appraisal

Kiyoshi Atsumi

Kiyoshi Atsumi

Kiyoshi Atsumi , born Yasuo Tadokoro , was a Japanese film actor....

 was given the Best Actor award at the Mainichi Film Awards for his performance in this film and the previous entry in the series, It's Tough Being a Man

It's Tough Being a Man

aka Am I Trying and Tora-san,Our Lovable Tramp is a 1969 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada and starring Kiyoshi Atsumi. It is the first entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.-Synopsis:...

(also 1969). Yoji Yamada

Yoji Yamada

is a Japanese film director best known for his Otoko wa Tsurai yo series of films and his Samurai Trilogy ....

 was also awarded Best Director at the ceremony for the same two films.

The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-San's Cherished Mother three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

Tora-San's Cherished Mother was released theatrically on November 15, 1969. In Japan, the film has been released on videotape in 1983 and 1995, an in DVD format in 2005 and 2008. AnimEigo

AnimEigo

AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams, III. It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina, and run by Natsumi Ueki, Robert's wife...

released the film on DVD in the US along with the other first four films in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series on November 24, 2009.

External links

• Tora-San's Cherished Mother at www.tora-san.jp (Official site)