is a 1982

1982 in film

-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...

 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 Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Yuko Tanaka as his love interest or "Madonna". Tora-san, the Expert is the thirtieth 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. This became the first Tora-san film to be released on DVD with English subtitles in 16:9 ratio when the Hong Kong label Panorama did so in 2006.

Synopsis

Tora-san gets into an argument with his uncle and sets out on the road again. In Kyushu he meets a young woman named Keiko and the shy zoologist Saburō, and attempts to play matchmaker between the two when they all return to Tokyo.

Cast

• Kiyoshi Atsumi
  Kiyoshi Atsumi
  Kiyoshi Atsumi , born Yasuo Tadokoro , was a Japanese film actor....
  
   as Torajirō
• 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
• Yuko Tanaka as Keiko
• Kenji Sawada
  Kenji Sawada
  , nicknamed "Julie" , also-known as vocalist for the Japanese rock band The Tigers, is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor. He was born in Tsunoi, Iwami , Tottori Prefecture, Japan, and raised in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto at age 3...
  
   as Saburō
• Masami Shimojō as Kuruma Tatsuzō
• Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
• Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
• Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura)
• Gajirō Satō as Genkō
• Hidetaka Yoshioka
  Hidetaka Yoshioka
  ', is a Japanese actor known for his performance in several movies as a child and lately the award-winning TV drama Dr. Koto Shinryojo. He notably played the part of Tora-san's little nephew in the "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" film series, and he appeared in Akira Kurosawa's "Rhapsody in August" and...
  
   as Mitsuo Suwa
• Asao Utada as Katsuzō Muta
• Miyuki Kojima as Yukari Nomura
• Haruko Mabuchi as Kinuko

Critical appraisal

Kiyoshi Atsumi

Kiyoshi Atsumi

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

, the star of the 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 won the Best Actor prize at the Blue Ribbon Awards

Blue Ribbon Awards

The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan.The awards were established in 1950 by which is composed of film correspondents from seven Tokyo-based sports newspapers...

 for his role in Tora-san, the Expert. Co-star Yuko Tanaka was nominated for Best Actress at the Japan Academy Prize. The casting of Kenji Sawada, then one of Japan's most flamboyant rock stars, as the painfully shy Saburo, also drew attention.

Stuart Galbraith IV

Stuart Galbraith IV

Stuart Galbraith IV is an American cinema historian, film critic, and DVD special features producer, essayist, and audio commentator.-Early life and education:...

judges this film to be one of the best in the series, helped by Tanaka's outstanding performance. The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san, the Expert three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

Tora-san, the Expert was released theatrically on December 28, 1982. In Japan, the film has been released on videotape in 1986 and 1996, and in DVD format in 2005 and 2008.

External links

• Tora-san, the Expert at www.tora-san.jp (Official site)