Madadayo

Madadayo

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Movie Reviews of Madadayo

Movie Review: Deeper than it seems
Summary: 5 Stars

On the surface, this is a story about a beloved and somewhat child-like (in a positive way) professor in the autumn of his life. It is a touching and at times seemly overly sentimental story. There are some laugh out loud moments--the scenes with the horse, the professor's attempts to foil robbers and a student doggedly reciting all of the train stops along an extremely long route come to mind. The professor is quick-witted and warm, the acting exceptional.

Many reviewers have already given more details on the plot, so I invite you to watch and look deeper. Although I am not one given to finding allegory everywhere, there are many subtleties here that I assume are completely intentional. A director as great as Kurosawa does not randomly throw in images. So consider...The country of Japan has been torn by war, and so has the professor. We see the results of air raids--the Professor's own home and much of his town has been destroyed. The American occupation is causing changes in the Japanese way of life. Although there is no open criticism, the brief scenes involving Americans and their influences (watch for them!) show you that the Japanese characters find them incomprehensible and aren't sure what to make of them. Additionally, as the film progresses, there is a subtle influx of Western influences-more English words, American customs etc. The Professor is caught between the old Japan and the new. The scene between the kindly neighbor and the callous new landowner illustrate this.

Nowhere is this conflict apparent than in the scene with the missing cat. At first, I thought that it was a little ridiculous to devote so much of the film the the search for a missing cat, and I thought it was over the top in sentimentality. But then, we are shown a few scenes of the professor imagining his lost cat trapped in a bombed-out ruin. Although the war has been over for a few years, the ruins are still smoldering-as if the bombs were recently dropped. The cat is trying to get home, but is confused and frightened. I realized the lost cat must be an symbol for Japanese people caught in the turmoil of a war-torn country in transition. What ultimately saves the Professor is the love and devotion of his students as well as his innate zest for life. When the Professor recovers from his depression, the once destroyed buildings in the background have been rebuilt. Can't be an accident!

There are so many other subtleties here. Watch for the changing role of women, the use of English and German words, the clothing styles, the role of children, music etc. I believe you'll agree this is a great film.