Tora san Goes Religious - Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia

An elderly Japanese American (Ryu Chishu) recalls his emigration to Hawaii and life during World War II.

Tora-san Goes Religious? (, Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Kuchibue o Fuku Torajiro) aka Torasan Whistling is a 1983 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajiro Kuruma (Tora-san), and Keiko Takeshita as his love interest or "Madonna". Tora-san Goes Religious? is the thirty-second entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.

Traveling in Western Japan, Kuruma Torajiro visits Hiroshi's father's grave at a temple. As he leaves, the temple's priest and the priest's daughter invite him to tea.

Synopsis

When his travels bring him to Western Japan, Tora-san decides to pay his respects to the late Hyoichiro Suwa, his sisters father-in-law. He gets drunk with the priest at the temple, falling in love with the priests daughter in the process. When the priest is too hung-over to deliver a eulogy the next morning, Tora-san takes his place, with great success. Tora-sans sister and his brother-in-laws family show up for Hyoichiro Suwas memorial service, and an argument breaks out over his estate.

Cast

Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajiro

Chieko Baisho as Sakura

Keiko Takeshita as Tomoko

Kiichi Nakai as Kazumichi

Kaoru Sugita as Hiromi

Shimojo Masami as Kuruma Tatsuzo

Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiros aunt)

Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa

Hidetaka Yoshioka as Mitsuo Suwa

Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetaro Katsura)

Gajiro Sato as Genko

Chishu Ryu as Gozen-sama

Tatsuo Matsumura as Osho

Critical appraisal

Tora-san Goes Religious? was the fifth highest earning film at Japanese box-offices in 1984. Stuart Galbraith IV ranks the film as one of the best in the series, noting that the "performances are excellent all-around". Galbraith observes that the films storyline was probably inspired by the recent death of the great film actor Takashi Shimura who had played the role of the deceased Hyoichiro Suwa in three previous Otoko wa Tsurai yo films. The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san Goes Religious? four out of five stars.

Availability

Tora-san Goes Religious? had was released in theaters on December 28, 1983.

In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1987 and 1986, and in DVD format in 1998 and 2008.

English

"OTOKO WA TSURAI YO KUCHIBUE O FUKU TORAJIRO (1983)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 2010-01-29.

"OTOKO WA TSURAIYO -KUCHIBUE O FUKU TORAJIRO". Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved 2010-01-29.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Kuchibue wo fuku Torajiro (1983) at the Internet Movie Database

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2006-07-06). "Tora-san 32: Tora-san Goes Religious (Region 3)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-01-29.

German

"Tora-San Goes Religious" (in German). www.molodezhnaja.ch. Retrieved 2010-01-29.

Japanese

(in Japanese). www.allcinema.net. Retrieved 2010-01-29.

"?????? ????????". Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Retrieved 2010-01-29.

(in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-01-29.

(in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 2010-01-29.

References

Tora-san Goes Religious? Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

Tora-san Goes Religious? IMDb Tora-san Goes Religious? themoviedb.org

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