Tora sans Lovesick

Synopsis

Tora-san returns home informing his family of his intention to marry. The plans are foiled when the woman's long-missing husband reappears. Later, Tora-san meets Utako from Tora-san's Dear Old Home (1972). Her husband has died, and, out of obligation, she is living with his demanding parents. Tora-san persuades her to come to Tokyo, where she meets her estranged father, an author. Torasan's romantic intentions with Utako come to nothing when she decides to devote her life to teaching mentally handicapped children.

Cast

Critical appraisal

Stuart Galbraith IV writes that Tora-san's Lovesick is "another fine entry in this exceptional series", which he calls "one of Japanese cinema's undiscovered treasures". He judges that the troubled relationship between Utako and her father is one of the highlights of the film. According to Galbraith, Seiji Miyaguchi—who played Kyūzō, the sword-fighting expert in Seven Samurai—gives a subtle performance, portraying the father as "intimidating yet clearly well-meaning". The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san's Lovesick three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

Tora-san's Lovesick was released theatrically on August 3, 1974. In Japan, the film has been released on videotape in 1995, and in DVD format in 2005 and 2008.