X
- 2009
- PG-13
- Regent Releasing
- 2 h
- 2009
- PG-13
- Regent Releasing
- 2 h
Summary Tokyo Sonata is a portrait of a seemingly ordinary Japanese family. The father who abruptly loses his job conceals the truth from his family; the eldest son in college hardly returns home; the youngest son furtively takes piano lessons without telling his parents; and the mother, who knows deep down that her role is to keep the family to...
Directed By: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Written By: Max Mannix, Sachiko Tanaka, Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- 2009
- PG-13
- Regent Releasing
- 2 h
- 2009
- PG-13
- Regent Releasing
- 2 h
Tokyo Sonata
80
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary Tokyo Sonata is a portrait of a seemingly ordinary Japanese family. The father who abruptly loses his job conceals the truth from his family; the eldest son in college hardly returns home; the youngest son furtively takes piano lessons without telling his parents; and the mother, who knows deep down that her role is to keep the family to...
Directed By: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Written By: Max Mannix, Sachiko Tanaka, Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
80
95% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
5% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
80
95% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
5% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Turns out to be one of the most compelling, finely orchestrated and oddly enchanting films of the year so far.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 26 User Ratings
6.7
73% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
4% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
23% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 26 User Ratings
6.7
73% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
4% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
23% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
An expertly crafted and haunting family drama from the former master of J-horror. Here he proofs the harsh realities of life are scarier and more surreal than anything paranormal.
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"Tokyo Sonata" is microcosm of Japan's "Lost Decade" that uses an average middle-class family to tell a story that challenges tradition and extols renewal and discovery. I admit that when I received the DVD in the mail I thought the title was "Tokyo Santa" so maybe anything would have been a pleasant surprise, but I genuinely feel this film is excellent. The acting was more-than-believable, even with two youth actors. What I enjoyed most, perhaps what I like about foreign films in general, is the words unsaid were more profound than the dialogue. This isn't a date movie, but if you want to take a look at the human condition for a few hours, I highly recommend it.
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No, it doesn't turn into another horror film or a murder-suicide. It simply shows how lives torn apart by financial emergencies can be revealed as being damaged all along.
Kurosawa's abiding concern has always been the alienation of modern living, which he here merely transplants into a more recognizable domestic milieu, where subtle fissures in society's apparent order threaten to short-circuit people instead of their beloved technology.
A disconcerting melange, Tokyo Sonata begins rather conventionally before spinning into black comic, almost fantastical, terrain.
Thanks to the script which invests the smallest scenes with dramatic significance, Tokyo Sonata enthrals audiences for the first hour with the pacing of a thriller.
Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is better known for horror films; this is a movie where the horror is internalized, and hideously truthful.
I must say that I went into this film in the dark. I had an idea of its plot because I obviously read what it was about to get interested in it, but I was completely unaware of how it was going to unfold and boy was it a revelation.
Tokyo Sonata at first seems like a relatively simple drama about a family struggling with the economic crisis. The premise up to that point seems to be rather traditional.
The father has lost his job and he doesn't want his family to know, and it seems like that problem will only bottle up the tension, and that makes it more than likely that other predicaments are about to be unleashed, which may seem predictable and to some extent it is, but when the moment comes when you might think you know where the story is going, Kiyoshi Kurosawa shows you just how wrong you are.
Why? Because the film opens up a much more interesting issue that throws away the initial dilemma, but exposes an even more serious one.
One that gets aggravated when we reach the conclusion, because we have no way out and no closure. The family structure is still in place, but the journey has revealed that it's only a facade on the verge of collapse.
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This is a somewhat clever film about members of the same family who have their own secrets to hide - not wanting to tell relatives what their doing for fear of judgement. It provides an insight into male shame and dignity perhaps...male peer pressue in Japanese culture. Its a pretty low key film, with some thought provoking dialogue. Its not exactly a gripping watch but I liked the way the plot progressed. If you can stick with it, its worth seeing, though it's not exactly an entirely impactful film, it is thought provoking and it's still worth seeing. Quirky, mundane, interesting. Not great but definitely not bad, it may provide some food for thought.
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Production Company
Django Film,
Entertainment Farm (EF),
Fortissimo Films,
Hakuhodo DY Media Partners,
PiX
Release Date Mar 13, 2009
Duration 2 h
Rating PG-13
Genres
Tagline Every family has its secrets. [USA release]
Awards
Kinema Junpo Awards
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
Asian Film Awards
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
