Madadayo
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Movie Reviews of Madadayo
Movie Review: Wow...very difficult
Summary: 3 Stars
As a Kurosawa and Japanese cinema fan in general - and a student of Japanese language for over 20 years - I had a hard time getting through this movie. It's not that it's a bad movie, it's just really directed at a very specific audience in my opinion. Older people who have a sentimental attachment to the songs, humor and overall mood of the period. I could appreciate some of the humor where if I was dependent solely on the captions would be totally lost.
The film making is marvelous, the framing, the cinematography, casting, etc. are all top notch. If you appreciate Japanese culture and have an understanding of the language to some degree, it can be enjoyed (but I did find myself fast forwarding here and there) - but don't sit down with the (American) family on this one. They will all eventually disburse or fall asleep!! The closing scene is masterful, as many have stated.
Movie Review: Great movie. Lousy DVD.
Summary: 3 Stars
Madadayo from the great director Akira Kurosawa may be a 5 star movie but this DVD looks like Fox Lorber mastered it from a VHS tape.Movie Review: Kurosawa's Last Film
Summary: 3 Stars
Kurosawa Akira's last film "Madadayo" is a quiet sentimental film.Movie Review: What a revolting development!
Summary: 2 Stars
Too bad Kurosawa's last movie is such a schlocky treacle-fest. I understand that he wanted to write a kind of final love letter to his fans and admirers and students, but this one went just a bit too far for my tastes. Kurosawa is not a stranger to saccharine sentimentality (witness REDBEARD), but this one went a step too far in its Pollyanna-like optimism. Faced with the tragedy of WWII (briefly covered and hardly mentioned), the literature professor who is the film's protagonist rises above his setbacks with his steadfast stoicism and optimism and the help of his loving male students who shower him with admiration, gifts, land, and a new home. I had thought Spielberg the master of the cloyingly sweet movie, but it looks as if he learned his nausea-inducing licks from the old master himself. If you like hard-edged reality, or are a fan of Kurosawa's starkly delineated films of old, avoid MADDADAYO. Can't wait to get this one out of my library.Movie Review: The "Godfather 3" of the Kurosawa canon
Summary: 1 Stars
If you are a fan of Kurosawa (as I am), then avoid this film at all costs, for there is nothing more depressing than seeing a once-great director, who revolutionized filmmaking and examined powerful human themes, reduced to making sentimental nonsense like "Madadayo." And what a monumental waste of time this is--so unrealistically sentimental as to make one wince at times. The use of near amateurs in minor roles does not help. This story (such as it is) is about a retired teacher whose former students (who all happen to live nearby, apparently) remain devoted to him, in a sort of Christ-and-his-disciples relationship. They visit frequently, build him a new home after the War, hold lavish birthday parties for him (and spend 30 minutes of screen time helping him look for his lost cat). What makes these students so devoted is never explored at all--Kurosawa just expects us to take it as fact. This leads to the painful conclusion that "Madadayo" depicts Kurosawa's idealization of himself: as a kind old man inspiring continuing devotion in his former proteges. "Madadayo" also explains why Beat Takeshi and others in the new generation of talented Japanese filmmakers had become so disgusted with Kurosawa toward the end of his career. --MellowMonk.com