An ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company.An ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company.An ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company.
- Awards
- 10 wins & 10 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRyuhei goes to Hello Work to seek help finding a job. Hello Work is a Japanese government agency that tries to help people looking for employment.
- GoofsLate in the movie the Mother lies on the beach allowing the ocean to wash over her. In her next scenes her clothes appear completely dry. Even allowing for the time she had to get home her clothes would still be damp and very uncomfortable to wear.
- Quotes
Megumi Sasaki: How wonderful it would be if my whole life so far turns out to have been a dream, and suddenly I wake up and I'm someone else entirely.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Forget Me Not (2015)
- SoundtracksClaire de Lune
Composed by Claude Debussy
Featured review
For a foreigner like me, Japan is a mystery, both wonderful, weird and hard to understand, especially since most of my information about the country is anecdotal or (worse?) coming from mangas. I've met people having the greatest respect for Japanese customs and people who completely badmouth the country.
From this perspective, Tokyo Sonata is a bit of a gem, showing me how ordinary Japanese people live and think. There is the family, standard issue of father, mother and two children, and there are the roles: head of the family, respectful housewife, rebellious teenager and confused child. What do they do when the economic crisis and the traditional value system clash?
I thought the actors were good, the soundtrack as well (to be expected given the title), and the plot was slow but crisp. There must have been a lot of expectations on a guy directing movies when his last name is Kurosawa and not related to Akira, because the movie was overall an excellent film. However, given its two hour length and slow pace, I advice you look at it when in the mood for cinematography, not some easy entertainment. Also, it is a pretty sad drama in places, so be ready to empathize with some hard hit people.
From this perspective, Tokyo Sonata is a bit of a gem, showing me how ordinary Japanese people live and think. There is the family, standard issue of father, mother and two children, and there are the roles: head of the family, respectful housewife, rebellious teenager and confused child. What do they do when the economic crisis and the traditional value system clash?
I thought the actors were good, the soundtrack as well (to be expected given the title), and the plot was slow but crisp. There must have been a lot of expectations on a guy directing movies when his last name is Kurosawa and not related to Akira, because the movie was overall an excellent film. However, given its two hour length and slow pace, I advice you look at it when in the mood for cinematography, not some easy entertainment. Also, it is a pretty sad drama in places, so be ready to empathize with some hard hit people.
- How long is Tokyo Sonata?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $278,356
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $28,345
- Mar 15, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $943,547
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