Otoko wa tsurai yo

Where character of Tora-san came out is an interesting topic. The huge success of this series of course owes a lot to the great talent of actor Kiyoshi Atsumi, and director and screen writer Yoji Yamada, but something about this story must hit close to home in the minds of Japanese audience.

Tora-san is as imperfect as a human can get. Yet, he has no ill intentions to anyone he meets which makes him endearing to the audience. Also the culture of down town Tokyo is very special. Although people may not be rich or refined in modern ways, they genuinely care and look after each other, while holding to their tradition.

Perfection is obvious in the story and cinematography presented by director Yoji Yamada. In some ways he shot some of the most beautiful scenes of his career in this series.

This movie was conceived due to two events which precedes its creation. First was another movie starring Kiyoshi Atsumi called Haikei tenno heika sama (Dear His Majesty) which he made stellar performance in, and idea of using Atsumi in a similar role was conceived. The other was the TV drama version of this story where in the end Tora dies from a poison snake bite. The ending of this series was hugely unpopular with the audience, and this movie series was born with non-tragic ending for Tora-san in each episode. Initially the series was to conclude after five episodes, but due to its popularity, it continued for 48 episodes (Yoji Yamada's plan was to shoot 50 episodes, but it ended by Atsumi's untimely death).

By watching this series, you will understand the underpinning of Japanese culture better than any class in sociology can give. The brisk exchange between the characters, quick tempered brawls, who cares attitude, self pity, abandonment, sense of obligation which are all unique to the Japanese society. Although Japan now wears a facade of modernization, in its roots is the feeling like those of the people in this movie. It embodies the modern representation of what the Japanese call "Naniwa Bushi".

The movie is all star cast including Takashi Shimura, Chishu Ryu, future stars of J-drama like Daisaku Akino, and Gin Maeda. Stellar performance by Cheko Baisho as Sakura, and Sachiko Mitsumoto adds to the story.

The seminal episode of Tora-san movie is a delight to watch both from the story, and its beauty.

A breezy and fun watch- at times very funny ("BUTTER") and when it wanted to be a little more sentimental or even emotional, that stuff worked too.

I didn't like the last half-hour as much as the first hour or so, and that left the film as a whole feeling a little disjointed. However, considering there are 40-something more movies to go in this series, a lack of a great conclusion is certainly forgivable.

I've had a great deal of enjoyment from completing other long-running Japanese film series' like Godzilla and Zatoichi, so I look forward to tackling this one, with the aim to finish them all by the end of 2021.

Otoko wa Tsuraiyo, the first film of the many serires, is a masterpiece of a Japanese cinematic arts at its peak. Despite the simple and mundane story, the character development and the excellent performance of the entire casts portrays the dynamic relations of the characters. The cinematography, specially the camera techniques portrays the characters emotional status and transformation moreover it allows the audience to immerse into the world of Tora-san and the relations he has with other characters. The film, and the following Tora-san series serves as a canon, a model for future cinematic arts in Japan.

Besides being an itinerant salesman, Tora san also shows adeptness as a Palm-Reader. At those times he is shown promoting his Palmistry by prominently displaying a huge banner which depicts a diagram of the human palm with its designated lines.

Tora san's Palmistry is reflective of the acceptance with which Palm-reading is viewed by Japan and the Orient in general. Strolling down the Ginza nowadays, one can see an occasional Palm-Reader who has set up a table along the pedestrian walkways. Even more so in China where even their temples have a resident soothsayer. Not surprising when you consider that Palm-Reading is said to have originated in China.

It seems amazing to many people that this series of movies went on to number 48 over 25 years. But each film is strangely compelling and quite different, even though the basic format is the same.

Tora-san is a deeply flawed but intensely 'real' individual: lazy, vain, semi-literate, petulant, mendacious, funny, child-like, generous, sentimental. A real pain for everyone around him (most of all his long-suffering family), but nevertheless likable for all that. He is no one-dimensional character -- Atsumi's acting is breathtakingly larger than life. A lot of the credit must be due to the directorial skills of Yamada, who coaxes fine natural performances from all his actors.

There are a lot of underlying themes in the Tora-san films. Class certainly is one. Shibamata, Tora-san's hometown, is lower working class. Tora-san himself is 'yakuza-poi' -- not one of the notorious gangsters one thinks of as 'yakuza', but a small-time drifter and seller of cheap books and trashy objects -- he tries his hand at various other jobs (like farming in Hokkaido), but always fails and returns to his itinerant way of life. His speech patterns and pugnacious character (not to mention his dress) signify his status immediately to any Japanese. Much of the comic tension in these films derives from the discomfort Tora's earthy presence provokes when among those of finer social pretensions.

The other more overt theme is Tora's endless disappointment in love. Although women find him a charming comedian, none can conceive of him as a serious love interest. Tora's fascination with women is curiously asexual -- there is never any leering or lustful aspect to it. Rather, he develops a sudden dog-like attachment to pretty young women he encounters by chance, his family---and the audience---knowing it is doomed from the start.

It is indeed a shame more of these films are not available in English, but on the other hand, a good translation of the very idiomatic Japanese would be difficult to achieve.

*UPDATE*: As of August 2008, Shochiku has released a new edition of the Tora-san films on DVD, WITH English SUBTITLES!