is a 1982 Japanese comedy film directed by
Yoji Yamada
is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (''The Twilight Samurai'', ''The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor'').
Biography
He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job ...
. It stars
Kiyoshi Atsumi
Kiyoshi Atsumi (渥美 清 ''Atsumi Kiyoshi''), born Yasuo Tadokoro (田所 康雄 ''Tadokoro Yasuo'', 10 March 1928 – 4 August 1996), was a Japanese actor. He was born in Tokyo, and started his career in 1951 as a comedian at a strip-show the ...
as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and
Yūko Tanaka
is a Japanese actress from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She has won several acting awards during a long career working in both film and television, after she graduated from Meiji University.
Life and career
Early career
At the beginning of her ...
as his love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san, the Expert'' is the thirtieth entry in the popular, long-running ''
Otoko wa Tsurai yo
is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans. Spanning 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995, all of the ' ...
'' 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 (渥美 清 ''Atsumi Kiyoshi''), born Yasuo Tadokoro (田所 康雄 ''Tadokoro Yasuo'', 10 March 1928 – 4 August 1996), was a Japanese actor. He was born in Tokyo, and started his career in 1951 as a comedian at a strip-show the ...
as Torajirō
*
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 from 1969 until 1995. In addition, she has acted in many films directed by Yōji Yamada since the 1960s. She won th ...
as Sakura
*
Yūko Tanaka
is a Japanese actress from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She has won several acting awards during a long career working in both film and television, after she graduated from Meiji University.
Life and career
Early career
At the beginning of her ...
as Keiko
*
Kenji Sawada
is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor, best known for being the vocalist for the Japanese rock band The Tigers. Nicknamed because of his self-professed adoration of Julie Andrews, he was born in Tsunoi, Iwami (now part of Totto ...
as Saburō
*
Masami Shimojō
was a Japanese film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 100 films.
Career
Hoping to become a film director, Shimojō traveled to Tokyo in 1935 but ended up joining a theater troupe, debuting on stage in 1936. He made his film debut in 194 ...
as Kuruma Tatsuzō
*
Chieko Misaki
Chieko (written: , , , , or ) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese sprint canoeist
*, blind Japanese computer scientist
*, Japanese actress and singer
*, Japanese voice actress and singer
*, Japanes ...
as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
*
Gin Maeda
(born February 21, 1944) is a Japanese actor. He had a regular role in the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' films, beginning with the first in the series (1969), as Sakura's husband.
Filmography Film
*''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series (1969–2019), Hiroshi S ...
as Hiroshi Suwa
*
Hisao Dazai
Hisao (written: 央生, 久生, 久雄, 寿雄, 寿夫, 尚雄, 尚久 or 尚勇) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese voice actor
*, Japanese government official
*, Japanese baseball player
*, Japa ...
as Boss (Umetarō Katsura)
*
Gajirō Satō as Genkō
*
Hidetaka Yoshioka
is a Japanese actor known for his performance in several movies as a child and lately the award-winning TV drama Dr. Coto's Clinic. He notably played the part of Tora-san's little nephew in the "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" film series, and he appeared ...
as Mitsuo Suwa
* Asao Utada as Katsuzō Muta
* Miyuki Kojima as Yukari Nomura
* Haruko Mabuchi as Kinuko
Critical appraisal
Kiyoshi Atsumi
Kiyoshi Atsumi (渥美 清 ''Atsumi Kiyoshi''), born Yasuo Tadokoro (田所 康雄 ''Tadokoro Yasuo'', 10 March 1928 – 4 August 1996), was a Japanese actor. He was born in Tokyo, and started his career in 1951 as a comedian at a strip-show the ...
, the star of the ''
Otoko wa Tsurai yo
is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans. Spanning 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995, all of the ' ...
'' series won the Best Actor prize at the
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. In 1961, the six major Japanes ...
for his role in ''Tora-san, the Expert''. Co-star
Yūko Tanaka
is a Japanese actress from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She has won several acting awards during a long career working in both film and television, after she graduated from Meiji University.
Life and career
Early career
At the beginning of her ...
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 Eugene Galbraith IV (born December 29, 1965) is an American film historian, film critic, essayist, and audio commentator.
Early life and education
Raised in Livonia, Michigan, Galbraith first worked professionally as a film reviewer and ...
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 was released on videotape in 1986 and 1996, and in DVD format in 2005 and 2008.
References
Bibliography
English
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German
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Japanese
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External links
''Tora-san, the Expert''at www.tora-san.jp (official site)
{{Yoji Yamada
1982 films
Films directed by Yoji Yamada
1982 comedy films
1980s Japanese-language films
Otoko wa Tsurai yo films
Shochiku films
Films with screenplays by Yôji Yamada
Japanese sequel films
1980s Japanese films